Ravenclaw Book Two: Wise
by Pwnie3
Summary: Sequel to Ravenclaw. Hermione Granger and Crew have finished first year, but what awaits them in second year? Will Nico and Hermione finally admit their love for each other? Will Seamus and Dean just kiss already? Will Victoria decide between Anthony and Terrence? Will Colin reveal more about his past and just f*ck his boyfriend already? Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**_THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE, THIS IS AN A/N. IGNORE IT IF YOU WANT, BUT IT HAS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE REST OF THE STORY_**

**Warnings: There will be homosexuality and vulgar language. There will be alcohol consumption. There will be sexual innuendos and possibly pedophilic teachers *coughcough Lockhart couchcouch*. This is not a story for children under the age or mental age of 10, possibly 11. Say this next word out loud.**

**Poop.**

** If you laughed, you probably shouldn't be reading this.**

**The prologue will be posted on the 29th of July. I will update once a week, on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. I need to proof these chapters and I will not send them to my teenaged brother, who still laughs at poop jokes. I just laugh at boob jokes.**

**BEWBIES.**

**First things first, I need to tell you guys something. I have almost a month before I go back to school. I will be writing longer chapters over longer periods of time. Each one will be at least 3,500 words, however I will need time for this. Once school starts, while 4,000 words used to take me two days, it will take me a week once term begins.**

**Once school starts, prepare for bitching and moaning on my part about grades and horrid teachers and how I didn't want this class or I don't belong in Geometry yet or something along those lines. But, hey, my lowest grade was a B- and it was in Pre-Algebra, so unless my final scores come in with an amazing math score, I'll just be in Algebra.**

**I want your headcanons. Only headcanons that I can weave into the story, so only ones pertaining to these characters or this story in particular, like my Nico Hugs headcanons. Or just random headcanons of HPPJO awesomeness.**

**Also, I had the sudden urge to assign sexual preferences to all the characters I use. After I'm done with the full story, I'll post the Excel pages on my deviantART account, just so you can see all that I did to class these characters. To see how invested I was in this story.**

**I also will continue to ask for your OCs. I might not use them, but I'll still put them on the masterlist just in case. So, yeah. Give me OC love.**

**Anyways, I love you guys, just needed to have you guys see this before I posted the first chapter (Oxygen Magnesium! (Geddit? Funny haha? Science jokes?)) on this next story.**

**Just ignore my science joke. Bad joke is bad. I blame my brother.**

**_DISCLAIMER FOR THIS ENTIRE STORY SO NO-ONE CAN SAY I DIDN'T: THE ONLY CHARACTERS THAT ARE MINE ARE MY OCS, THE OTHER OCS BELONG TO VARIOUS PEOPLE WHO WERE AMAZING AND AWESOME TO LET ME USE THEIR CHARACTERS. THE OTHER CHARACTERS, SUCH AS HERMIONE GRANGER, NICO DI ANGELO, DRACO MALFOY, AND MINERVA MCGONAGALL BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN AND THE ONLY TRUE BEING OF ULTIMATE POWER WORTH WORSHIP IN THIS LIFE BESIDES GEORGE CARLIN AND TOM HIDDLESTON, J. K. ROWLING. THE PLOTLINE IS BASED OFF THE STORYLINE FROM THE MIND OF THE MAGNIFICENT AND GLORIOUS J.K. ROWLING._**

**Enjoy the story once I post it. Give me reviews, for they are love. I need love, just not physically, unless it involves boobs.**

**BEWBIES**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	2. Prologue: Letters

A young girl of maybe 10 or 11 stirred in her bed to the incessant tapping of a something on the window of the girl's bedroom. The girl wasn't a morning person, and wanted to sleep for as long as she could before she was off to school in just a few short weeks. The girl pulled her quilt over her head, trying to go back to sleep, but the something tapping at the window wouldn't have it. The girl gave up after a few minutes, standing and walking to the window in her perfectly round room. She opened the shutters to reveal a barn owl, the morning _Prophet _clasped in it's talons, with a leather pouch on one leg for the three Knuts it was due for delivering the paper. The girl reached over and let the owl hop onto her arm, transferring the newspaper to it's beak from it's claws.

The girl walked down two flights of stairs past her parents' floor of their house to the kitchen, where the girl dug three Knuts out of a cookie jar kept by the stove, took the paper from the owl, and dropped the bronze coins into the leather pouch on the owl's leg. The girl went over to the cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal. She went over to another cabinet and took out a ceramic bowl, while also taking a spoon from the drawer under the cabinet. She pulled milk out of the icebox and poured herself a bowl of cereal with milk, also adding a copious amount of sugar to the bowl with the milk. She made herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with the paper.

Her father only modernized because he had no time for things like spoiled milk or spilling tea across a page and losing the entire work. He bought for his daughter and himself a refrigerator, a toaster, a coffee machine, and a computer that the girl was never allowed on because it was always in use. The girl read the paper while circling in a big red marker what was probably fake. While her father had his own magazine, it was more into the more cultic things in their world. The girl read the _Daily Prophet_ to see what was going on in the world at that very moment.

Just as her father came down, there was another owl tapping at the window, this one holding a letter in it's beak. The girl shook dirty blonde hair out of her face and ran to the window, taking the letter and looking at label.

_Ms. Luna Lovegood_

_1 Rook Hill_

_ Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England_

Xenophilius Lovegood clapped her on the shoulder, over which he had been looking to see the letter. Luna flipped the letter over to see, just as she had expected, a red wax seal on the envelope. The emblem of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; A lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake in a square around a gothic-style capital H. Luna quickly peeled off the seal- she'd have to frame it later. She pulled two sheets of parchment from the envelope. She read them, and her smile spread to her ears.

Her father put down his coffee cup and kissed the top of Luna's head, tossing her already precariously balanced curls all over the place. Xeno looked at the booklist in his daughter's hands, pulling the paper away from her and seemed to be looking through a library in his head.

"Come on, Luna. I think we have these somewhere."

So Luna followed Xenophilius down into the basement, which they used only for storage nowadays. Ever since Luna's mother, Helena, had died in an explosion caused by one of her experimental spells when Luna was nine, Luna had only gone down to the basement where it happened twice. She had been talking with her mother when it happened.

_*Flashback*_

_Luna sat on a crate in the basement of her house, just nine years old. She swung her legs and bounced her heels off the crate while talking to her mother, Helena Lovegood. _

_"So, Luna, tell me again, who were the main Primordial gods?" Helena asked her daughter. Helena loved Greek mythology._

_"Hemera, Aether, Nyx, Erebus, Tartarus, Gaea, Ouranos, Pontus, Anake, Phanes, Eros, and Chronos." Luna answered after a moment of thought._

_"And the All-Mother?"_

_"Chaos." Luna didn't hesitate._

_Helena smiled at her daughter, then went back to her work. She muttered a spell while waving her wand in the air, trying to make small fireworks appear._

_The spell came out wrong, though. She had mispronounced the incantation she had invented. Fireworks shot out of her wand, but they were much too big. Luna, who had been told what to do if this ever happened, dove behind the crates she had been sitting on. There was a huge explosion, and Luna's ears rang. After the explosions ceased, Luna walked out from behind the crates, her ears still buzzing. She couldn't hear anything, not even her own heartbeat. _

_Luna knelt beside her mother, and shook her shoulders. "Mum," Helena didn't stir. "Mum!" Luna was sure she had shouted, but she didn't hear herself at all. Xenophilius, who had been upstairs, rushed to his daughter and wife, taking Helena's pulse and checking to see if she was breathing. She wasn't._

_*End Flashback*_

Luna remembered going to her mother's spellbook- where she listed all the spells she'd created, and writing in _Expulso- exploding hex_. Luna had never had the opportunity to use the spell herself, but intended to at the first chance. To honor her mother.

Xeno flipped the light switch to turn on the basement lights. He walked over to a cardboard box, pulling the top open and looking back at the booklist. That box was full of books that had belonged to Helena Lovegood. Xeno, one by one, pulled out all the books on the list, which Helena had used when inventing.

_The Standard Book of Spells_: Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_ by Aldabert Waffling

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble

Luna, armed with her complete booklist, prepared to go tomorrow to Diagon Alley, a place of wonders and mayhem, of potions and poisons, of owls and inkwells.

And Luna was excited.

* * *

**Wise: Prologue: Letters to Someone From Someone Else**

**Word Count: 1,123**

**Post date: 7/29/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**Lame ending is lame.**

**Do any of you know how much I hate flashbacks? I prefer to just explain it all as a summary of the memory, but I wanted to make this longer for you guys. Also, creative liberties were taken. I have plans, BTW, so don't bash.**

**For those of you who skipped over the A/N I posted first, here. It contains important information.**

**First things first, I need to tell you guys something. I have almost a month before I go back to school. I will be writing longer chapters over longer periods of time. Each one will be at least 3,500 words, however I will need time for this. Once school starts, while 4,000 words used to take me two days, it will take me a week once term begins.**

**Once school starts, prepare for bitching and moaning on my part about grades and horrid teachers and how I didn't want this class or I don't belong in Geometry yet or something along those lines. But, hey, my lowest grade was a B- and it was in Pre-Algebra, so unless my final scores come in with an amazing math score, I'll just be in Algebra.**

**I want your headcanons. Only headcanons that I can weave into the story, so only ones pertaining to these characters or this story in particular, like my Nico Hugs headcanons. Or just random headcanons of HPPJO awesomeness.**

**Also, I had the sudden urge to assign sexual preferences to all the characters I use. After I'm done with the full story, I'll post the Excel pages on my deviantART account, just so you can see all that I did to class these characters. To see how invested I was in this story.**

**I also will continue to ask for your OCs. I might not use them, but I'll still put them on the masterlist just in case. So, yeah. Give me OC love.**

**Anyways, I love you guys, just needed to have you guys see this before I posted the first chapter (Oxygen Magnesium! (Geddit? Funny haha? Science jokes?)) on this next story.**

**Just ignore my science joke. Bad joke is bad. I blame my brother.**

_**DISCLAIMER FOR THIS ENTIRE STORY SO NO-ONE CAN SAY I DIDN'T: THE ONLY CHARACTERS THAT ARE MINE ARE MY OCS, THE OTHER OCS BELONG TO VARIOUS PEOPLE WHO WERE AMAZING AND AWESOME TO LET ME USE THEIR CHARACTERS. THE OTHER CHARACTERS, SUCH AS HERMIONE GRANGER, NICO DI ANGELO, DRACO MALFOY, AND MINERVA MCGONAGALL BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN AND THE ONLY TRUE BEING OF ULTIMATE POWER WORTH WORSHIP IN THIS LIFE BESIDES GEORGE CARLIN AND TOM HIDDLESTON, J. K. ROWLING. THE PLOTLINE IS BASED OFF THE STORYLINE FROM THE MIND OF THE MAGNIFICENT AND GLORIOUS J.K. ROWLING.**_

**My dad told me that I have to read this book called House of the Scorpion or something like that and write a two-page book report on it and then write a fanfiction about it before the 4th of August or for every day it's late he'll take my phone, my tablet, and my computer for two days. Don't expect me to be extremely attentive for a few days, savvy? But don't worry, I've already got the next chapter written and the proofing is still ongoing.**

**Also, the poll on my profile only has four votes. I'm gonna need more of an opinion on that. It will only be a minor part of the story, but it will make up fillers here and there and FOR THE GOD'S SAKES, PLEASE JUST VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE, OKAY?**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	3. Welcome to Hell

**Q: MoonWatersLight: I really liked this chapter! Luna, poor Luna. I love her so much, she is just awesome. I can't wait for the gang to all get back together! Please update soon! :D**

**A: Thank you! I just needed a sort of fillery chapter to get us started. It will be another chapter or two before I get to Hogwarts. I've started coming up with Halloween costumes for them. I only just decided that I would actually give you a Halloween chapter this time around.**

**As I've said before, I can and will write one-shots for this franchise upon request and I will only write them if you guys want me to. I have no opinion of how I should go on this: Tell me what scene you want me to reinvent for this series (Maybe it can be a bit spoilery, I'll decide that if I get requests), and I might write it if I don't already have something planned on it. maybe even backgrounds for OCs.**

* * *

A young man with black hair was harassing someone. This other person, the someone, was also black-haired, but they had different-colored eyes. The first had sea-green, framed by blue glasses, while the second had black eyes and no glasses.

"So, Neeks, where you been the past eight months or so?" The first guy asked.

"First of all, none of your business. Second of all, don't call me that. My name is Nico." The second guy, now named Nico, replied hotly.

Nico sped off in the direction of the barracks where he lived in Camp Jupiter. His bunk was with the 2nd Cohort, where he had been assigned after his Placement Rounds. If he had gotten more rest the night before, he could've gotten farther, maybe into the 1st, but he had only barely beaten the first centurion in the 2nd, Josiah Timmers, and there was no way a 10-year-old like he had been at the time could've beaten the second centurion in the 2nd Cohort. Piper McLean, daughter of Venus, had just been too much for the tiny son of Pluto who had grown at least a foot and a half since then.

The other man, his name being Percy, followed Nico, who was his cousin. Percy was nagging Nico the whole way there about where Nico had been the past months, why he had just ditched Percy. Nico ignored him.

Nico pushed the doors open to his barracks and flopped down, facefirst, into his bunk. Percy had never seen the teen's bunk before, and was amazed at the difference between bunks there was in the 2nd.

The 2nd Cohort was the smallest in the entire Legion. It had a sparse fifteen people during the summer, otherwise it was nearly empty after most left for a school that they all went to that sill let them practice as Romans. All the other cohorts had at least thirty people who stayed year-round, and only fifteen left for that school during autumn, winter, and spring. Either you made it halfway to the top, at the 3rd Cohort, or you got to the top, at the 1st. The 2nd was for special people, mostly. Weird people, and for demigods, that was saying something. Almost the entire cohort left for that school during the school year.

Nico bunked in the same room as four other boys. Simon Jones, a son of Venus, Lee Jordan, a son of Mercury, Blaise Zabini, another son of Venus, and Josiah Timmers, a son of Portunes. But out of them all, Simon was the weirdest. It was said that he had kissed everyone in camp, regardless of gender or sexual preference, even Caiden and Haley, which neither of them had taken very well, and he had only ever managed to get Nico on the cheek, no matter how hard he tried. Nico had wards, put up by a daughter of Trivia in the 2nd, around his bed to prevent Simon from getting within kissing distance.

Simon, a seventeen year old who looked a lot like a character Percy had once seen in an anime Trix watched, with honey blonde hair and sky blue eyes, had a cotton candy blue bedspread with pictures of Simon and various girls who were at most eighteen and at least twelve, all of whom wore the same uniform that Simon and the other boys did in their pictures. Every so often, Percy swore that one of the photographs moved, but in the end credited a trick of the light.

Lee was a short kid of maybe fourteen or fifteen, with dark skin, black dreadlocks, and brown eyes. His bed was done in canary yellow, which almost hurt to look at it was so bright. He kept pictures of himself and twin boys with fiery red hair and smiles that reminded Percy of sons of Mercury he knew.

Blaise was a boy who had attracted many eyes as soon as he entered Camp. The son of Venus had dark skin, almost like coffee, and eyes to match his dark brown hair. His bedset was emerald green, which was soothing on the eyes after the frightening brilliance of Lee's yellow. He, like the other boys, had photographs pinned up on the wall behind his bed. All the people in these photographs were wearing green, and one girl in particular caught Percy's eye.

She was pretty, with long platinum blonde hair that looked like it had never met a hair straightener it didn't like, despite there being no frayed ends visible in the shot. Her eyes were a pale blue, almost like ice. She wore no smile, but looked down her nose as if the rest of the world was inferior to her.

Josiah was one of the few in the 2nd Cohort who didn't leave to go to the unnamed school for the school year. He had a nearly bald head, which had just a bit of black peachfuzz, and big brown eyes behind black framed glasses. His bed was the standard purple, and his only photo was of him and his girlfriend, who Percy had never seen before, which meant she was probably from wherever Josiah went for Christmas every year.

In fact, the only thing the bunks had in common was the style of the bed, all with different color schemes, and the emblem they kept above their beds, albeit in differing colors, but all the same. It was of a badger, a lion, a snake, and an eagle in a square around a fancy capital H. One of the animals, the lion in red, the snake in green, the badger in yellow, and the eagle in blue, was on the front of the uniforms in the pictures all of them had tacked to the walls.

"Nico, did you draw these?" Percy had taken down a picture of a girl with curly hair and a bright smile. Nico's hand shot out and grabbed the paper.

He carefully tacked the paper back onto the wall. "Careful, you little _stronzo__*_. You'll smear the charcoal." Nico glared at the son of Neptune.

"Why? Is that girl important to you or something?" Percy nagged.

Nico flopped back down onto his bed, face covered by his hands. A folded-up square of paper fell out of his pocket. Percy picked it up and unfolded it.

"Nico, dude, this picture is moving!" he said, nudging his cousin. Nico shot up again. He tried to snatch the photograph back, but his eighteen-year-old cousin was still taller than almost-fifteen-year-old Nico.

"Give that back, Percy."

"Whoa, that girl looks like Trix!" He wasn't lying: the girl in the photograph, as well as she was in one or two of Nico's drawings, was almost a replica of Percy's girlfriend, the seventeen-year-old Bellatrix, Trix for short, Cooper. The curly, dirty-blonde hair, the pale blue eyes that switched to green, then grey, then back to blue in less than three seconds.

"Percy give that back!" Nico was just an inch too short to reach the photo his cousin was holding above his head.

Just then, Trix came in, looking for her boyfriend. She saw the photograph and Nico trying to get it, and held out her hand for the moving photo. Percy, while one of the most powerful demigods to ever live, knew better than to argue with his girlfriend. Percy brought his arm down and Trix took the photo to give to Nico, but stopped when she saw something in the picture.

"Nico, where did you get this?" she asked, her eyes distracted. "Why do you have a picture of my sister?"

"My boarding school. Your sister goes there too. This was her first year. It was my third." Nico said, snatching the photo back. he took a bag out from under his bed. He put all his belongings in there. "I'm going back to the Underworld for the rest of the summer. You two lovebirds stay busy, just don't get married till I get back, okay?" And then he was gone, back to the Underworld until the summer started again.

* * *

Nicolai di Angelo woke up in Hell. It wasn't at all strange for him, he always spent half his summer in the Underworld. It wasn't much of a mystery why, either, considering his father was the god of the dead. Even Nico himself had an impressive title. The Ghost King. A title that would one day make him into a god.

Nicolai, or Nico for short, as the name 'Nicolai' belonged to his maternal great-grandfather, looked around his bedroom. The room itself was gloomy and dark, which suited Nico perfectly. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all black marble, as was the rest of the Imperial Palace. Nico's bed was the brightest thing in the room, and only them because of the white poplar wood that went into making the bed frame. The bedclothes were all black as well, sheets and pillowcase. The duvet was a dark purple, so dark as to think it was black until you got up close. The drapes on his bed were the same color. The dresser was of ebony, as was the nightstand and the writing desk.

His bookshelf was his pride and joy. Yes, the great and powerful Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, was a complete and utter bookworm. 39 books from Tolkien, 14 from Baum, 7 from C.S. Lewis, 4 from Paolini, 23 from Dickens, 3 from Funke, 40 from the bard himself, 6 from Lloyd Alexander, Brain Droppings by George Carlin, four novels and two books of short stories from Doyle. At Nico's last count, because he counted his books when he got bored: Sometimes a new one would appear on the shelf, he had 145 books, not counting his textbooks, which he had in his closet, in his trunk, where he only took them out if he had homework to do.

But, under all the black and other darks, there was a small smile of blue. He had blue ink to do his homework with when he didn't feel like writing in black. He had blue paper to draw on when he got angry at the charcoal smears on white paper. He had blue socks in his dresser. But his most prized possessions of blue were the letters he had received from his friends back at school, kept in a blue cardboard box under his bed.

During the school year, Nico attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. He would be going this year into his fourth year out of seven. He was basically the idol for most of the younger Ravenclaws, for reasons he had yet to figure out. The dark, brooding, moody and snappish kid who got his work done quick and well. He had been a first year himself not too long ago, three years previous. He had been so much more annoying then.

The thing that Nico liked most about his room was the walls, though. You couldn't even see the almost-black purple wallpaper, only tiny slivers here and there. Every wall was plastered with sketches. Nico fancied himself not too bad at drawing, thinking himself pretty well off in the arts as an Italian, the bringers of the Renaissance. He even still had his cello propped up against his dresser. He had started with pictures of his sister, Bianca, who worked for the Amazons after coming back through the Doors of Death a few months ago, and their mother Maria, who resided in Elysium. Then he went on to draw his father and stepmother, Hades (or Pluto, however you looked at it) and the goddess of spring, Proserpina.

Ever since going to Hogwarts for the first time, Nico had been conflicted. Up until then, he had been 300% sure that he was Roman. But then, he received a dream from his father, who told his something he should've known before. Rare was the person who could incite both aspects of a god. In fact, it had only ever happened twice before, and the two daughters born by the goddess of youth were never told, and the children of the god of the sky were each told the other was dead. Rarer still was the human who could bring out both sides of a deity at once. But Maria di Angelo had always been a special girl. Both her children, Nico and Bianca, were the only ones of their kind: Both and neither Greek and Roman, always fluctuating between the two. Thus, Nico, who had always referred to the gods as Roman, now didn't know what to do. He hadn't told anyone about this, and neither had his sister.

In any case, Nico loved his walls, papered with sketches, drawings, and paintings of everyone he knew. His father, stepmother, mother, sister, cousins, and friends. There was his half-brother, Harry, who was going to live just across the hall once Nico got him from his relatives. There were drawings of Neville, a legacy of Ceres. Daphne, daughter of Khione. Terry and Tony, who were yet unclaimed. Dean and Seamus, who should just kiss already, godsdamnit, and as far as Nico knew, they weren't demigods. Draco, son of Athena, and Hermione, daughter of Minerva.

Hermione. What had Nico been thinking, that day on the train? Nico flopped back down on his bed, his hands over his eyes. Why in Hades had he kissed her? He was slightly hungover from all the butterbeer he'd had the night before, but why had he kissed Hermione? She had smiled at him afterwards, but she hadn't mentioned it in any of the letters he had gotten from her. Granted, he hadn't mentioned it either, and he was a little afraid to.

Nico decided it was time to mention it. Over on his desk was a half-finished letter to Hermione, who he had written to the most over the course of the summer. He sat up on his bed, stood, walked over to his desk, sat down, and was about to start writing when he changed his mind. What would she think? She would call him a coward. If he couldn't ask her about it in person, he wouldn't talk about it at all. Besides, it was a moment of weakness. He was getting too attached to people. No-one lived forever. Demigods were lucky to live past eighteen if they still went into the mortal world. Grief was something Nico didn't have time for. People would say he could just visit their spirits in the Underworld, but demigods were notorious for going directly to rebirth. Even getting this chummy with Harry, his own half-brother, would be bad in the long run.

Nico looked at his watch. It had been a gift from his father for Nico's 14th birthday. It was almost eleven of the clock, which meant it was time for Nico to go get Harry from Surrey. Nico looked to the corner of his room, where there was a patch of shadows. Nico had a habit of keeping his room well-lit. Nico walked over to the patch of shadows in the corner and succumbed to the pure and blissful darkness of it. He pictured his destination: The park not too far from the Dursley's house. He figured he wouldn't be quite as hated if he didn't just appear. They had to be expecting him: He had sent a letter before him, very official-like. He pulled a copy out of the pocket of his aviator's jacket.

_Mr. Vernon Dursley_

_4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging_

_Surrey, United Kingdom_

_Mr. Dursley,_

_I will be coming to collect Mr. Harry Potter from you in exactly 2 weeks time, on August 24th, 1992 at eleven fifteen in the morning. He will remain with me until the start of the school year, whereupon he will go to school. After that, he will return to you, then I will collect him one week before term starts at eleven fifteen in the morning. This will be repeated until he graduates from school, upon which he will never return to your household again unless to collect whatever he may have left behind when packing for the school year. This will not happen if Mr. Potter chooses a path which I will elaborate upon once I arrive to take Mr. Potter. He will spend holidays with me._

_Sincerely,_

_Nicolai di Angelo_

He had given the precise number of stamps needed and mailed it from his family home in Italy, just outside of Rome. As Nico walked toward Number 4, he thought about how he could've worded that differently. '_I'm going to come at eleven fifteen on the 24th to get your nephew and take him with me to live in Hell for a week with me and my Satan dad.'_ Nico chuckled to himself and shook his head at the thought. He doubted the Dursleys would've found it nearly as funny as he did, though.

Nico would ring the doorbell shortly before eleven fifteen: at eleven thirteen instead, just because he could. Nico looked to be much too young for this, and he knew it. He would have to explain things to the Dursleys, but they were things they needed to know. It was eleven twelve when Nico walked up the Dursley's garden path. He saw a bony, horse-like woman watching him through the curtains. He rang the doorbell at precisely eleven thirteen, as planned.

He heard scurrying behind the door. He straightened his jacket and hoped his hair didn't look too bad: Didn't want these people to think badly of him. He had brushed his teeth, combed his hair back into a shoulder-length ponytail with his bangs hanging just over his eyes. Nico had gotten his hair cut from this length for Halloween last year: He had decided to walk around as a miniature of Professor Snape, and if he had been taller, the would've been nearly impossible to tell apart as far as looks went. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt under his jacket, and was wearing his favorite dark-wash jeans with black combat boots.

The door opened to reveal a wide and not very tall man who rather reminded Nico of a walrus. He had a thick handlebar mustache which might've looked good on any other man. He had beady blue eyes and thinning, once-red, now gray hair. He wore a fake smile and tacky tweed.

Nico reached out to shake his hand. "Nicolai di Angelo. Pleased to meet you."

Mr. Dursley's smile dropped. He had been expecting an older man, a man his own age, not this kid, as he must have been thinking. Mr. Dursley, who was very polite on the outside, shook the proffered hand from Nico. "Vernon Dursley. The pleasure is all mine. Please, come in."

Nico stepped inside and Vernon backed away from the door to let Nico pass. Vernon led Nico down the hall and into the sitting room, where Petunia, Dudley, and Harry waited. Harry looked much more like his bony and tall aunt than his fat and short uncle and cousin. Harry saw Nico and his face split into a wide smile. Vernon gestured for Nico to sit down.

"I'm sorry if you were expecting someone older." He started. "But I do actually have a few things to discuss with you before Harry and I leave."

Vernon, who was taken aback by Nico's forwardness, just nodded him on.

"What do you know about the Greek gods?" he prompted them.

Petunia looked around, trying to keep her eyes anywhere but on Nico, but it was just too hard not to look at him when talking to him. "I used to read the stories out loud to my sister." Vernon frowned at the mention of Lily Potter, but said nothing.

"First of all, they're real. They tweaked the stories a bit to make themselves look better." he gave them a minute to process that. "Second, Harry and I are children of the gods."

Petunia was outraged. "The boy isn't Lily's son, then? Then why did we get landed with him?"

"Your sister didn't cheat on James. James did not cheat on Lily. Every god or goddess has a mortal vessel a new one with each generation. Your sister was one of these vessels. She was the vessel of the goddess Proserpina." Petunia looked a mixture of relieved and disgusted. More freakishness. Harry was actually her nephew. "Occasionally, the god or goddess will take control of their vessel. Harry was conceived during one of those occasions. I don't want to think about the details."

"Wait, who's Proserpina?" asked Dudley, who had just been listening so far.

"Proserpina is the Roman version of Persephone." Nico explained.

"Roman version?" Petunia was the confused one now.

"Think of each god or goddess as a coin." Nico took a silver _denarii _out of his pocket. He turned it so the tails side was facing them. "Their Greek on one side," He flipped the coin in his hand so it was on heads. "and Roman on the other. There are rare occasions when," he balanced the coin on it's side on the coffee table, "The two sides are in sync, but that almost never happens, as in, twice-in-the-past-century rare. But that's off topic. Harry is a son of Proserpina, and I am a son of Hades most of the time, and a son of Pluto the rest of the time. Long story, don't get me started. Are you still following?"

Petunia and Vernon nodded.

"I'll be taking him to live in the Underworld for a week before school starts. There's already a room set up for him and everything, his room is just across the hall from mine. He'll be taken good care of, and you won't have to see him until next summer."

Vernon cleared his throat. "What about this other option you mentioned in your letter?"

"Ah, yes. That. There are establishments where demigods like Harry and I train over the summer. There is, of course, the choice for him to stay there year-round, but he'll be at school during most of the year. He can also train there for an hour every other day." Nico explained.

"And how much does this... establishment charge for the summer?" Vernon was only concerned about how much money he would have to spend on his nephew? How rude of him.

Nico could've said it was, like, a hundred dollars (What was that in pounds? Nico didn't know, he was Italian. He could do dollars to euros conversion easily, but English pounds? That was beyond Nico's ability), gotten the cash, done the conversion and donated it to the camps, but he was feeling a bit nicer that usual today. "It's free. All summer, no charge."

Vernon seemed to like the last part the best. Not having to see the 'freak' was a very good deal. They even got rid of him a full week early. But the fact that Harry and Lily had been even freakier than he had at first known set him off. He must have been housing the biggest freak in the history of freaks. He said this with barely concealed rage to Nico, who took it rather coldly.

"First of all, Harry is not a freak. Second of all, Even if he was, I've met bigger freaks than him." Nico looked at his watch. 11:30. They had to leave. "Now, Harry, you should go get your things. Father will be angry if we don't get back to the Underworld by noon. We'd miss lunch." Nico stood and followed Harry to his room.

Harry's room looked barely lived in. The only evidence that anyone lived there at all was a wastebasket full of sweets wrappers and discarded drafts of summer homework or letters to other people. The bed was made as if no-one had ever slept in it. His writing desk was neat, with all the paper in one corner and his pencil holder in the other, with a list of homework to do tacked to the wall with the majority of the list crossed off. Only two essays remained. One for Transfiguration and one for Potions. Harry had his school trunk atop his bed, dark brown and sapphire blue with an undetectable extension charm on it. Harry ran over to his desk and packed all his papers and pens into his schoolbag, also with the extension charm. He took the homework list off the wall and put that into his bag as well. Nico, who as a powerful demigod had no Trace, cast a Shrinking charm on the trunk so that Harry could put it into his pocket. It would be easier on Nico's energy core if he didn't have to transport so much mass.

"Is that everything?" Nico asked his brother, eyeing the empty closet and dresser.

Harry thought for a minute, then went over to his desk and pulled open the drawers one by one and pulling out all their contents. He closed the drawers and, after stowing all the things he had just plundered into his bag, reached under his mattress and pulled out his wand. He twirled it once and said, "Almost forgot this. Been practicing my plant powers on Aunt Petunia's garden, so I didn't think about the wand."

"It would've caused a bit of trouble if you had left it, that's for sure." Nico replied with a slight smile on his face. Nico and Harry went back downstairs and out the front door, Nico thanking the Dursleys for housing Harry.

The pair walked down the garden path, and, as an afterthought, Nico turned around. He hooked the nail of his left thumb under his front teeth, biting down on the nail at the same time, and pulled straight out, creating a slight popping sound, almost like someone popping their jaw but the volume lowered by at least ten percent. Nico smirked, knowing that no-one for miles around would've understood this gesture. Harry looked at him strangely, and caught sight of Nico's smirk and decided not to ask what the biting and flicking of the thumb meant.

The two boys walked to the edge of the property, where the blood wards ended. Nico hesitated there for a second, only a second, and then kept walking. Once Nico was sure that no-one would see them disappear into thin air, he extended an arm to Harry, who hooked his elbow around his brother's. There was a swirl of darkness on Wisteria Walk, and the two were gone.

* * *

**Wise: Chapter One: Demon Spawn**

**Word Count: 4,538**

**Post Date: 8/5/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**_Stronzo: _****Italian- asshole**

**THIS A/N WILL BE A RANT SO FEEL FREE TO IGNORE UNLESS REASONS. THERE IS A LOT OF CUSSING IN THIS A/N.**

**THIS A/N IN SHORT: **

**-Me being a boss**

**-Me joining a new fandom**

**-Update info**

**-Insulting seagurl3 for insulting my new fandom and her being an uneducated little bitch**

**Remember that thing I do where I always find the perfect place to end before I intended to? I feel like that's gonna be happening a lot. So brace yourselves.**

**I will be updating once a week, so, Tuesdays. Maybe a little bit later, so a few times it might be on Wednesday. Depends if I've finished proofing it, because SOMEONE (Hint Hint Nudge Nudge Wink Wink SEAGURL3) decided she didn't feel like it anymore unless I read all her Jercy stories. So I did, and now she tells me they're all meh and won't tell me if they're good or not because it's just not, and I quote, "Just not my kind, ya know?" and I'm not about to let my brother proof my stories. He'll just tell me to add more poop jokes.**

**I ended up just applying for a betareader.**

**Okay. So, no joke, this happened. I was writing the next chapter and it was like two in the morning and I went downstairs to get a doughnut from this morning and my mom was down there too, letting the dogs outside so they didn't shit in the house.**

**"Pwnie3, what are you doing up so late? You need sleep."**

**And you know what I said? "I have no need for such mortal folly." then I stuffed a glazed doughnut in my mouth, closed the box, refilled my water bottle, and went back upstairs.**

**Like.**

**A.**

**Fucking.**

**Boss.**

**Also, I was just on the homepage for FF and I saw this one ad and I has already licked to go to my profile but then I was just like WAIT WAS THAT SEBASTIAN so I went back and I kept refreshing the page until I got the Funimation ad and I saw Sebaby.**

**I want your headcanons. Only headcanons that I can weave into the story, so only ones pertaining to these characters or this story in particular, like my Nico Hugs headcanons. Or just random headcanons of HPPJO awesomeness.**

**I also will continue to ask for your OCs. I might not use them, but I'll still put them on the masterlist just in case. So, yeah. Give me OC love.**

**I just realized something, as I was writing. I made Percy pretty much exactly like Alfred F. Jones from Hetalia. I wasn't even trying. It just happened.**

**Vote on the poll on my profile, too! It only has (Let me check) 4 votes on it. I need MOAR, PEOPLE.**

**Also, I watched the show Free!, and I was just DSBLGIUBTKGNLDBNPHOJY SEASON 1 EPISODE 12 OMG JKSGBIUBRGBOE. Also, you guys all know seagurl3, right? I talk about her a lot. Don't listen to her anymore. You know why? I tried to get her into the fandom, and sent her pictures of the characters. And do you know what she did? She IGNORED Makoto, INSULTED Rei, Nagisa, and Rin, and I didn't have the heart to send any Haruka. And now she says her mom won't let her watch it. Probably because of the collective 5 minutes of Speedo in over the course of something like 18 episodes. Maybe because of the heavily implied yaoi, but it hasn't stopped her before. So, everyone gang up on seagurl3 to watch Free! Iwatobi Swim Club!**

**(I just need to hate on someone, and she's given me so much cannon fodder) And you know what else seagurl said? Here, I will copy the texts. I left them untouched, they were copied directly from my phone.**

**seagurl3: Transfiguration is Ms McGonagall, right?**

**Pwnie3: That's Professor McGonagall, you uneducated little shit**

**seagurl3: Ms.**

**Pwnie3: It's Professor.**

**If she was American, she would be Ms.**

**seagurl3: And I'm not uneducated. It just I haven't read Harry Potter in 2 years**

**And I'm American, so I'll call her ms**

**Pwnie3: But she's British**

**Call her by the correct title**

**seagurl3: No**

**Dont wanna**

**So I dont have to**

**Pwnie3: Don't care**

**I'm busy**

**So shut up**

**seagurl3: With what? Painting?**

**And the conversation then drifted off to me spamming her with pictures of Rin from Free! and her deleting them. I sent her a Rinharu pic with the caption of "hot childhood friend swimmers who desperately need to kiss" and then Rinharu spam. And then she had the AUDACITY to edit a picture of Trix I posted on my deviantART (Which will soon have some really crappy drawings of Nagisa, Rei, and this one minor character from Kuroshitsuji II. If she posts it anywhere, be on the lookout. It is copyright infringement and I will sue for ten million.**

**I have now taken two quizzes that say I am most like Nagisa, which is very accurate if we're going with the fan version of him where he is an evil genius or at least that he is nowhere near as innocent as people think he is.**

**If you have any questions about the chapter or about the story itself, feel free to ask. Send me prompts for little one-shots of the future or past for the characters in this story. But seriously, guys. I just want reviews. I'm a selfish, wanting bitch who cares only about herself so the more reviews you send the happier I'll get and the more I'll write so then you'll be happier so there.**

**Anyways, Love you guys (Love me back,).**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**


	4. Tanti Auguri

**Q: MoonWatersLight: Nico... just...ah! He freakin doesnt realize he likes Hermione! Grr. Idiot. Yeah, I'm just being pouty. I hope at least Hermione knows how she feels. Then again, she's always been more book smart... ugh! If anyone is to figure it out first between the two it will probably be Nico, only because he has guy friends though. When guys think their friend likes someone they tease him about her and look at the girl they like a lot. Anyway, that was a bit of my rant as well, great chapter, and I can't wait for the next update! :)**

**A: At first I was gonna have this sorta sweet and fluffy reunion at the train station, but then I remembered that it would be sorta weird to be twelve and already dating. I'm older than that and I've never dated before. Of course, that could just be my amazing disposition that has suitors lining up to woo me, but maybe not. And, I haven't decided yet who's going to realize first. Nico will probably try to deny it for as long as he can so he won't have to feel so sad when she dies. Hermione will just think it's a passing fancy or something.**

**Q: Anomaly (Guest): That was... Unexpected! Brilliant idea. Most people make Harry and Nico brothers. With stories that have Nico at Hogwarts most of them turn out the same way, but yours is completely unique. I loved the perspective on Nico's position between the two camps. A lot of this is very thought-provoking. I LOVE this story. Please update soon! :)**

**A: I was originally going to have a not-so-mean Petunia, but then I was just all 'Screw it, let's do this' and I ditched the idea. I just honestly wanted to have Harry be conceived by a deity, but I also liked the idea of him being brothers with Nico. This was the result. I really wanted Nico to be fully Roman, but I had read a story where the title of 'Ghost King' would make Nico a god, which would make him both Greek and Roman, which led to this. Also, I needed a good explanation for why he knew about both camps, and the idea just all-around presented itself. I brought back Bianca because I realized how important her death was to Nico, but I also wanted to make Nico a bit happier, so she came back through the doors of Death. Also, Nico is an amazing artist. He can also play the cello. He was taught by his mother and it was muscle memory for him, so he didn't forget it.**

**_This chapter is dedicated to Robin Williams. Rest in peace._**

* * *

Henry Potter, nicknamed Harry and never wanting to go by Henry again because it was just so old and weird and just NO, was in complete awe of Hell. Okay, it was the Greco-Roman version of Hell, but it was still Hell. It was all fire and burning and darkness and pain and anguish and suffering and oh, look at that, a garden made of priceless gemstones. Harry could see the miniature figure of a woman in the garden, which was really good because it meant he wasn't blind quite yet. He hated his glasses, but he loathed the idea of contacts or laser surgery or some other kind of vision correction. At least he could easily take off the glasses.

Nico led Harry from the Judging Pavillion, waving hello at William Shakespeare, George Washington, and Winston Churchill before walking up the straight path from the Pavillion to the Imperial Palace of the Most High and Mighty Domain of the God of the Dead, Hades, or the Imperial Palace of the Most High and Mighty Domain of the God of the Dead, Pluto, take your pick. Nico opened the obsidian double doors twice the godly height of a Primordial, or at least how tall Nico assumed a Primordial would be.

Everything about the palace was dark. Dark walls, gruesome tapestries, skeletons encased in millions in jewels. Nico seemed to airbrush it all, walking stone faced down the long, central hallway. He went up three flights of stairs, through two passageways behind the walls, down another hallway, and stopped in front of the most ordinary door Harry had ever seen. It was plain oak wood with a brass doorknob and keyhole. Nico twisted the knob and pushed on the door, letting Harry walk in before him.

The room looked very normal to Harry, and rather a lot like his dormitory back at Hogwarts mixed with his room at Number Four Privet Drive. It had a four-poster bed made out of pale wood, with yellow drapes and bedspread. It looked nothing like Harry expected to see in the Underworld, but he liked it. He had an oak wood desk and dresser in opposite corners of the room, and there was another door which Harry expected led to the closet. There was a plush black carpet under his feet, which would probably be really soft once he took off his shoes and socks.

"Harry, this is your room. I tried to make it look the best I could." Nico shifted uncomfortably, clearly not used to doing this at all.

Harry turned to his half brother. "Nico, where's your room?"

Nico opened the door and pointed to a black door on the other site of the hall. "That one. Now, we can't have you go to lunch in such... tattered condition. Lunch is at noon, so we have half an hour." Nico closed the door and walked over to the dresser, opening one of the drawers and taking out a dark grey long-sleeved shirt, a black, gold, and light grey argyle sweater-vest, and a pair of black pants like from the Hogwarts uniform. He held them out to Harry, who took them, before going over to the door. "I'll wait in my room. I need to change too: I look like I just came back from a jog."

Once Nico had left, Harry changed out of his baggy pants and shirt into the nice outfit that Nico had picked out for him. Harry looked in the mirror and realized that Italians were amazing with fashion. While his hair could use some work and he needed smaller trainers, this was the best outfit Harry had ever worn.

Harry dug around in the closet and found a pair of boat shoes that were his size, also going over to the dresser again scrounging around for a pair of socks. He tried to finger comb his hair to get it to stay down, but it refused to cooperate. Eventually he gave up, leaving his room and going over to knock on Nico's bedroom door. Nico's muffled voice came from inside, telling him to come in.

Nico was doing up the shoelaces on his ever-present combat boots. He was wearing much the same as Harry, but instead of dark grey had black, the gold was silver, and the light grey was blue. Nico ruffled Harry's hair as he stood up from the edge of his bed, then walked over to his own dresser, grabbing a comb, dragging the chair over from his desk, and sitting Harry down in front of the full-body mirror on his wall. Nico stood behind harry and attacked his hair with the comb.

Ten minutes later, Nico stepped back, victorious. Harry's hair, while not completely tame, had at least been managed to the point where it wouldn't fall into his food while he ate. Nico quickly retied his hair into its shoulder-length ponytail, which made Harry wish his own hair was that long so he could just tie it back like Nico could. Nico shook him out of his thoughts, grabbing Harry by the arm.

"It's almost noon. We have to be at lunch in five minutes. I know a shortcut."

Nico pulled Harry out and into the hall and closed the door behind them. He walked over to a wall at the end of the corridor, having let go of Harry half a minute ago. Nico rapped twice with his knuckles on a specific brick in the wall, and a portion of the wall slid back to reveal a passageway behind the wall. After Harry went into the passage, Nico followed and closed the entrance by tapping twice on the wall. Nico walked down the passageway, Greek Fire torches in brackets lighting their way.

"Nico, what is this?"Harry asked.

"A shortcut. I told you that already." Nico didn't even look back.

"I knew that, but what is it for?"

Nico sighed. So many questions that the Summer version of Nico didn't like. "It's a servant's passage. It was inspired by the servant passages in medieval castles, so that any important visitors wouldn't have to see the servants. The unseen servant is the better servant. Passageways like this one were used to transport food, messages, clothes from wardrobes, just about anything that could fit. This one isn't used except by the ghosts who come to clean our rooms."

"But can't ghosts go through walls?"

"The ghosts here aren't like the Hogwarts ghosts. The Hogwarts ghosts are bound to the earth by an item they held close to their heart, but their motives for staying vary. The item is kept in a shrine somewhere deep in the school. If the item is taken from the shrine and destroyed, the ghost moves on. These ghosts in the Underworld are different. They are bound here by duty. These are souls who gave themselves in service to the gods for some reason or another. They vow to serve the gods for eternity, they die, and if the Olympians don't get to them fast enough, the spirit serves Hades, or Pluto, take your pick, for the rest of time."

"Well that's a cheery thought." Harry thought, even though Nico could probably hear him anyway.

Suddenly, Nico stopped, dead in his tracks. The halt was so abrupt, Harry knocked right into Nico, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Nico shoved Harry off him, Harry's glasses flying off as he was pushed back.

Nico stood. "This is where we exit in front of the dining hall. Come on."

Harry scrambled for his glasses on the black cobbled floor. The torches on the wall gave off less light than you'd imagine. Nico stuck the toe of his boot under something on the floor. He held them out to his half-brother, who took them gratefully and put them back on his nose. Nico looked at the glasses on Harry's face with a newfound displeasure.

"Those look too big on your face. They make you look five years old." Nico was really letting out pent-up aggression from being alone all summer, as far as Harry knew. "Come on." He knocked on the wall with his knuckles. "Time to meet your mother."

* * *

Nico didn't really know what to think of his stepmother. Persephone hated him, and when Persephone was out, so was Hades. Nico, as a godling of sorts, had felt the start of multiple personality disorder that all gods would eventually have with the whole Greek/Roman feud. During the summer, when he was at the Roman camp and also when in the Underworld under the watchful eye of his high-standard father, Nico turned into Nicolai, the harsh and strict Roman legionaire. During the school year, when basically there was no-one to stop him from messing around, he was Nico, the mischievous and mysterious Greek camper.

But then, when Proserpina was in control, Nico had no idea what to think. Seeing as he would have eternity to decide, he was in no rush to work out whether or not he hated the goddess of spring. She was arrogant, but when Nico was eleven and his sister died, Nico needed a shoulder to cry on. He knew that his father would hold no sympathy: While Nico had been forbidden, in his father's words, "to associate in any way with the spirits of those with whom you were close in their previous life", the god of the dead could visit as he pleased with those in his realm, living or otherwise. Proserpina had been taking a walk through the palace, apparently wondering whether the death of his child would mark a turning point in her dying marriage to Pluto, and heard Nico sobbing like a baby in his room. She knocked on the door, went inside, saw the state that Nico was in, and for some reason or another, her Greek side won over her, and she felt the need to comfort the crying Nico. So she did, holding him until his tears ran out. Neither of them had ever spoken of the event to anyone, including each other, and both intended to keep it that way.

Nico saw this side of his stepmother in Harry everyday. The green eyes that were exactly like his mother's, the same skip to his step in the long face, the overall petite frame. Harry would always go out of his way to make someone else feel better. If he saw someone having a problem, or when Dean came back to the common room crying his eyes out because of Seamus being partially blind. At least, that's what Nico assumed happened, because that is entirely what Dean would've done and Harry totally would've comforted him.

Nico and Harry exited the wall, Nico closing the passage behind them. Nico walked briskly down the hall to a set of double doors, which opened into a magnificent dining hall bigger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There was a long table in the middle of the room, with only four places set at one end. Pluto sat at the head of the table, with Proserpina next to him. At the sight of her son, Proserpina smiled.

Nico stopped about five paces from the table. There he bowed his head to his father and stepmother. "Lord Pluto. Lady Proserpina." Then he sat down on the right hand of his father. Harry looked awkward, not really knowing what to do in the presence of two gods. Nico gave him a strained look and Harry bowed his head just as he had seen Nico do.

Proserpina smiled at her son, the same smile that Harry himself had. Harry sat down in the only remaining chair at the table, around the table corner from Proserpina.

"Nicolai, what have I told you about taking the servants' corridors?"

Nico looked at his father. "Not to."

"Then why did you?"

"Because we would've been late for lunch otherwise, Father. I am deeply sorry for having disobeyed your orders, but time was of the essence."

Pluto looked down on his son, then told Nico he was to report to him after lunch for a discussion about politics or something of the sort.

Lunch was a silent affair on the parts of Nico and Pluto, while Proserpina chatted happily with Harry, who seemed to love the conversation even more once it turned to Herbology, his best subject. The two of them chattered away about Christmas Roses and waterlilies and other flowers and plants.

Nico turned at said quietly to his father, "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

"Somewhat." Pluto replied, just as quietly as Nico had asked.

Proserpina and Harry just kept talking, taking no notice of the brief conversation between Nico and his father.

* * *

The next few days were among the happiest in Harry's life. He spent the days with Nico exploring the Underworld and finishing Harry's summer homework. It was the 26th of August, the third day of Harry's week in the Underworld, when he and Nico were just sitting around in Harry's room, talking about trivial things.

Did faeries like coffee and should they attempt to give some to the faeries living in the Forbidden Forest?

Would Nico's MP3 player work during History of Magic and should he attempt to listen to Jpop during classes?

Would they have been taught how to shoot a rocket launcher if Hogwarts had been an American school?

Did unicorns really poop out rainbows?

Since gods lost their power in Alaska, if they had sex while in Alaska, would the subsequent child be a demigod if their parent hadn't technically been a god at the time?

Other trivial matters followed, but then Harry broke out the big guns.

"Nico, do you like anyone?" Harry asked innocently enough.

"Define 'like'." Nico squinted a bit at his half-brother, suspicious of his true intent.

"Do you, _like_ like someone?" Harry smiled.

Nico glared at him. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that you and Hermione were very buddy-buddy last year." Nico's face turned Gryffindor red, which was not a pretty color on him. nico spluttered, looking for a way to tell Harry off when he'd done nothing wrong. "Look, you tell me if you like Hermione and I'll tell you who I like."

"Hermione and I are nothing but friends." Nico said, still the color of a ripe cherry.

"Friends... with benefits?" Honestly, Harry didn't know when he'd turned so evil like this, but it was funny to see Nico turn all red and flustered.

"Just. Friends." Nico looked like he was about to rip Harry's head clean off his shoulders.

Harry settled back onto the bed, closing his eyes behind a new set of glasses his mother had ordered for him. They didn't magnify his eyes quite so much as before and the frames were smaller so that he didn't look like a seven-year-old who was a foot too tall. "In any case, I can't say for sure that I like anyone."

Nico looked at him. "Really? I don't believe you."

"I'm telling the truth."

Nico stood from the desk chair, walking over to the bed where Harry still lay with his eyes closed. "We'll have to see about that."

Nico started tickling Harry, digging his fingers into Harry's sides. Harry started laughing uncontrollably. "Tell me, Harry!"

Harry shook his head, not wanting to divulge his greatest secret. The tickling went on for another minute before Harry finally cracked. "Fine! Fine, I'll tell you, just stop it already!" As quickly as it had started, the tickling stopped as Nico stood back, ready to hear that Harry liked anyone from Cho Chang to Millicent Bulstrode. Harry massaged his sides as he took a deep breath for confidence. "It's..."

Nico smirked. "It's... Daphne Greengrass."

Nico's smirk dropped. "The Slytherin girl who helps you in Charms? The girl whose older brother is pegged to be Head Boy in his seventh year? That Daphne Greengrass?"

"Her brother is going to be Head Boy?"

"I will be very surprised if he isn't. Lysander is going to murder you if he finds out."

"Murder me?"

"He'll cut you open and tie you by your innards to your broomstick before sending you into the atmosphere."

Harry gulped. "I'm pretty much screwed if he finds out, then?"

"Don't worry, no-one will find out if we can't help it. At least two years or so to ask her out. Then Lysander will have graduated. I don't particularly want to have to explain this one to your mother if you die."

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up to the sound of Nico cussing in what sounded like Italian, Latin, Greek, and some form of Asian dialect. Harry jumped out of bed and ran to his door, running into said door before remembering to open it, and ran to Nico's room, where he once again ran into the door before he got the chance to open it. Inside, Nico was being swarmed by at least four owls, each with a letter and a parcel. Each package was brightly wrapped and each owl was pecking Nico relentlessly.

Harry tried to calm down all the owls, and they mostly listened, with two of them going over to the chair and one alighting on the wardrobe. There were still two around Nico, one of them trying to rip off his ear and the other looking like it wanted nothing more than to relieve itself on the carpet. Harry set the owl on the windowsill, where the window had been left open for some reason.

"Nico, why do you have five owls in your room?"

"Letters and presents."

"What's the occasion? Does that package say 'Happy Birthday'?"

"Yes, it's my birthday. Now help me take off these letters and the boxes before one of these blasted birds shits on my carpet."

But Harry did no such thing. "It's your birthday? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to make a big deal about it, that's why."

"Then how did they find out?"

"Because Percy told Trix, and Trix told Victoria, and Victoria told Hermione, Draco, Seamus, Dean, Tony, Terry, and Neville."

"Okay..." suddenly, Harry started scuffing his feet on the floor.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Nico asked, trying to get the letter off of a screech owl.

"It's your birthday and I didn't get you anything..."

Nico's hands dropped to his sides. He looked at Harry. "Did I not just say that I didn't want to make a big deal out of it? I don't want any presents or anything like that. I don't need anything like that."

"But it's still your birthday! And that's a cause for celebration!" Harry looked up at his half-brother.

"The last time I celebrated my birthday, I was told that I was going to have to watch you all die. Sorry if I'm not that big on the parties anymore. This discussion is over. Go back to bed, it's five in the morning."

* * *

The rest of the day passed normally, if not Harry a bit sadder than usual and a bit more distant from Nico. Nico got all the letters and presents off the owls and he sent them back out the window. Nico and Harry went down to breakfast at eight of the clock and they sat in the same seats they had yesterday. Nico on Pluto's right, and Harry on Proserpina's left.

Pluto nodded at his son as a form of greeting, and Proserpina smiled at Harry. Pluto waved his hand over the table and a gift appeared, wrapped in black with a silver bow. Knowing that this was the lord of the dead, Harry assumed that Pluto hadn't done the wrapping himself. Pluto pushed the present to Nico.

_"Tanti Auguri_, Nicolai."

"_Grazie_." Nico replied. He took the present and looked to his father, as if to ask if he was to open it now. Pluto shook his head

Breakfast conversation was only between Proserpina and Harry, about the planting schedules of jeweled flowers.

Nico and Pluto ate in silence.

* * *

Back in Nico's room after breakfast, Nico and Harry were talking about trivial things again.

What kind of monsters were in the Forbidden Forest?

Had any of the Founders done the deed with each other?

What was the probability that alternate universes existed?

If the One Ring to Rule Them All was real, how much would they be able to sell it for?

Who was going to be Head Girl if Lysander Greengrass was Head Boy?

Was there WiFi at Hogwarts and how good was the service?

"So, Nico," Harry said. "Are you gonna open your presents yet?"

Nico sighed and closed his eyes. He stuck his hand out to the pile of letters bound to present on his desk, and seeming told the shadows to pick one at random. The one on the top was engulfed by darkness and reappeared in Nico's hand. he sat up on the bed and beckoned for Harry to drag the chair closer.

"Who's that one from?" Harry asked, craning his neck to see the label. Nico pulled it closer and out of Harry's line of sight.

Nico held it out and leaned back to read the label. "It's from Terry and Tony." Nico pulled off the letter first and read it to himself, smiling slightly as he did. It wasn't even really a letter, it was a two-dollar birthday card from Walmart with fifty bucks inside plus another three in quarters. He muttered something about the two of them being cheap and he opened the box that had come with the letter. Inside was a stuffed toy in the shape of a bat. When Nico turned it inside-out, it was a vampire. He smiled at Terry and Tony's antics.

The next letter was from Victoria. It wasn't actually from Vic, but from her sister Trix, who had also included a brief message from Percy.

_Wassup, dude. Hope you're okay. Trix's little sister said that one of her friends told her that it was your birthday, so have a good one on me. I sent you coffee. -Percy_

Nico rolled his eyes, but he opened the box and gave a small smile at the bag of coffee grounds. There was a piece of paper with instructions on how to make it over a Bunsen burner with a bottle of water, a sieve, and an Erlenmeyer flask.

Vic had sent a bottle of black nail polish and fake eyelashes. Nico was not amused.

Seamus and Dean sent a joint gift along with a letter.

_Dear Nico,_

_Happy Birthday! Dean writing from Hong Kong, with Seamus looking over my shoulder with the look that said he's about to take away the pen **Hi, Nico! Happy birthday! **Seamus' parents told him that he could choose one friend to come with them to spend the last month of summer in Hong Kong, and he decided to take me for reasons that to me are still unknown._

_I any case, enjoy the gift we sent. Hermione owled us a few days ago to say that it was your birthday on the 27th. We hope that this gets to you on time._

_Happy Birthday._

_Sincerely,_

_Dean **and Seamus**_

Nico opened the present they sent him. It was a black chess piece acquired in the not-quite-so-not-magical portion of Hong Kong that would take messages and only relay them to the intended recipient in the voice of the sender.

Fred, George, and Lee sent a box of questionable sweets which smelled funny and looked rather powdery.

Nico's dorm roommates, Calder, Richard, Franz, and Jamie, had apparently all pooled together their funds and bought him 1,111 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches , 5th edition. 110 more ways that the copy that they'd all given him last year for Christmas. Nico scowled.

Hermione, Draco, and Neville all said that they would be giving him a joint present if he would be so kind as to appear in Diagon Alley at eleven in the morning on the 28th of August in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop.

But it was Pluto's gift that hit Nico the hardest. It was an album, old and leather-bound, with new, plastic card sleeves that looked oddly out of place with their contents. The album was full to bursting with near-mint condition Captain America trading cards. Nico gently thumbed through every page. This book had each and every different card, no two were the same.

_If found, return this book to Maria di Angelo at di Angelo Manor, just outside of Florence, Italy. I know exactly how many cards are in here, so don't take any of them or I'll know and have you arrested for stealing. These cards are MINE._

Nico had always known his mother to be feisty and demanding, but she was still threatening people who touched her stuff, seventy years after her death. It made Nico smile.

_These cards are mine._

* * *

**Wise: Chapter Two: Tanti Auguri**

**Word Count: 4,287**

**Post Date: 8/12/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**Tanti Auguri; Italian- Happy Birthday**

**You have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter. Summer Nico and School Nico are two very different people, and so are Summer Harry and School Harry. Nico is Roman during the summer and Greek during the school year. Harry is shy when there are expectations he has to live up to, because he's terrified of messing up. When it's the summer and he's not with the Dursleys, he's all happy and carefree and vibrant and alive and suave and all-around more like James.**

**I also had to be very careful to make sure that I referenced them as half-brothers, and not just brothers. Nico's told Harry never to call him 'brother', but 'half-brother', because if he's referred to as brother, then he's that much closer to Harry and he knows that Harry will die someday and he wants to be as emotionally distanced from Harry as he can when that happens.**

**I had a hard time deciding what Pluto should give Nico for his birthday. At first it was going to be a portrait of his mother, but then I remembered that he drew his mother already, so he knew what she looked like, thus defeating the purpose. I eventually decided on doing something that Maria actually held close to her heart. I debated a photo album, but then, Captain America trading cards came to mind. Shut up, to me, she collected them as a child before she was told to stop being such a tomboy. Her parents locked up the cards in the attic or something and Maria never saw them again.**

**But then, somehow Pluto got ahold of them and gave them to Nico. So there.**

**I'm going to be writing a Free! fanfic, just so you know. It'll have genderbent Haru and genderbent Nagisa. It's gonna be my first prompt, the one on tumblr about the soulmates and the colors. It's pretty cool and I've already got almost six chapters written.**

**I know what you guys are going to say. 'How are you going to manage two main stories at once?' I will do my best to balance both stories equally. I will have no set time limit on chapters for this story, so unlike with Wise, don't expect new chapters every Tuesday or something else specific. I'll try to update this and any subsequent Free! fics between other stories, so like, once every week and a half or so. But I make no promises. I also make no promises on the length. The chapters may be 1,000 words or 5,000. It depends on how much I feel like writing on one chapter. But they'll mostly be 1,500 words or somewhere around there. I also have no idea when I'll publish it. All I know is that I'm gonna completely finish writing it first.**

**On a sadder note, for those of you who didn't know, yesterday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead in his home, apparently having committed suicide. I hadn't known this, but he had been depressed. I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't ready for this. It completely ruined my day. He was only 63 years old. I had counted on Robin Williams being there until I was in my forties, you know? I hadn't stopped to think that he might die so soon. One thing is for sure. In years to come, I will never ever be ready for August 11th. If you don't know who I'm talking about, please mourn for him anyways. He was in countless movies, and if you've ever seen Disney's Aladdin in English, think of the Genie. Think of Mrs. Doubtfire. Think of Mork from Mork and Mindy. He proved to the world that it's possible to put a smile on someone else's face even if you can't put one on your own.**

**_Requiescant in pace_**

**_Robin McLaurin Williams_**

**_July 21, 1951- August 11, 2014_**

**_"There's seating near the front. The concert begins at 5:00. It'll be Mozart, Elvis, and anyone of your choosing. Or if Heaven exists it would be nice to know there's laughter. That would be a great thing to hear God go, 'Two Jews walk into a bar...'"-Robin Williams_**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	5. Sebastian the Bank Kitten

**Q:Anomaly (Guest): Wow. I can't wait to see what Hermione & group got him! Great update! Continue soon! :)**

**A: Well, here you go, and congratulations on being the only review on that chapter.**

**Guys, what did I do wrong? Did I accidentally kill someone off again? I only got this one review after all the hard work I put into that last chapter. Don't you guys realize what I live for? It's a short list.**

**-Swimming anime**

**-Black Butler**

**-Ramen**

**-Gum**

**-Salt**

**-Reviews**

**-Internet in general**

**-Fanfiction**

**-Theatre**

**-Tom Hiddleston**

**Anyways, give me these things and I am happy. Take one of them away and I am not happy. But mostly reviews. I was a huge downer all week because I only got the one review. Try to make me happy so I don't kill anyone, okay? I just don't want to have to kill anyone, but if it will get me reviews, I won't hesitate.**

* * *

Harry, it seemed, was trying his best to hide in the shadows as much as possible while in Diagon Alley. He obviously didn't want to be seen, recognised, and mobbed by something like a hundred girls within five years of him on either side of the spectrum. Eventually, Nico just muttered to himself about Harry being rubbish at shadow control, pulled out his wand, and cast a quick disillusionment charm on Harry, leaving him with the feeling that was what he imagined was like someone cracking an egg down the back of his shirt.

The two of them walked as quickly as they could to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor through the milling crowd of shoppers who seemed about as willing to move as exhausted mules.

It was precisely eleven of the clock when Nico and Harry entered the shop, where they saw the entire group, Victoria, Terry, Tony, Hermione, Draco, and Neville, everyone minus Dean and Seamus who wouldn't be back until tomorrow, sitting at a cluster of tables in the corner that looked rather haphazardly pushed together. There was something box-shaped and covered with a black sitting beside Hermione's chair, where she sat eating an ice-cream cone. Neville brightened when he saw Nico, because he knew that meant that Harry couldn't be too far behind.

Nico tapped Harry on the head with his wand and muttered the counterspell, and Harry felt as if something warm was being trickled down his back. Harry then almost ran over to the table where all his friends sat. Nico walked instead, back straight and steps even, and sat in the only remaining empty chair, which was next to Hermione.

Harry had engrossed himself in conversation with Neville, the other authority in the group on Herbology, and seemed to be talking at three hundred miles an hour about the amazing gardens in the Underworld, and how there were plants that grew gemstones and other greenery things that Nico had long since learned to tune out. Nico himself got talking with Draco and Hermione about various obscurities about politics and the like.

"Are you two going to order anything?" Hermione asked Harry and Nico, and they were both jolted from their separate conversations. Nico looked up at the board that hung above the counter. His dark eyes suddenly brightened.

"I'm going to go get some gelato. Harry, decide what you want quickly, because I'm not paying tax twice."

Harry ended up ordering two scoops of double chocolate, while Nico got a bowl of lemon gelato, which made him happy. It had been years since he could find a place that sold good, or even halfway decent gelato. Nico had always been fond of the dessert, so the fact that Fortescue's made it so well cheered him up and made him feel more Greek than he normally did during the summer. The ghost of a young woman had told Harry that, saying that she knew that Nicolai was too proud to admit that to anyone.

Upon sitting back down, Nico found that Hermione had placed the cloth-covered box on the table.

Nico pointed half-heartedly at the box. "What is that?"

Hermione, Draco, and Neville smiled. Hermione answered. "That, Nico, is your birthday present. From Neville, Draco and I."

Nico blinked at it before setting down his gelato on his chair. "I suppose you expect me to open it?"

Draco nodded. "That would be the point, yes."

Nico sighed, but still went to pull the cloth off the box. Underneath was, as expected, a box. "Whoop-de-doo, a wicker box. What a fabulous present. Thank you." Nico snarked.

Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes in sync, while Neville just sighed. "Your present is what's inside the box, smart one." Hermione replied. Nico smirked at her and gave her a look that said _I know, I was just messing with you._

What was inside the box was a surprise to him however. Apparently, Victoria, Terry, and Tony didn't know what it was either, because they, along with Harry and Nico, craned their necks to see what was inside, although only Nico actually saw what it was. His smirk dropped.

"Hermione, Draco, Neville," Nico started, a look of confusion on his face, "Care to explain why you got me that?"

Hermione's smile grew, while Neville smiled nervously and Draco smirked. "That's your present." Draco nodded at the box. Nico reached inside the box, and lifted out a small black kitten. Victoria seemed to inflate slightly, grinning at the sight of the cat. She loved cats.

Victoria squealed. "Ohhh, it's so cute, can I hold it?" she reached out for the kitten. Nico pulled it closer to his chest, and there it snuggled. Nico shook his head.

"No, it's mine." He turned to Hermione. "What gender is it?"

"It's a boy." She answered. Nico looked down at the cat in his arms, which looked up at him with it's amber eyes. "What are you going to name it?"

"Let me think about it. Geez." He moved the box and it's lid off the table, setting them back down on the floor and moving his gelato off the chair and onto the table. he sat down, then held the cat awkwardly as he tried to find a place to put it. He decided on putting it back in the box for now. "Thank you, by the way." he said, nodding at Draco, Neville, and Hermione, all of whom smiled at him and said that they had been planning this for ages.

As Nico ate his gelato, he contributed little to the conversation, which had quickly shifted from politics and herbology to what in the world Nico should name his new cat.

"Hellspawn?" Victoria suggested. Nico shook his head.

"Might as well name it 'Nico', then."

"Erebus?" Hermione put forth.

"No."

"Thanatos? Tartarus?" Nico shuddered.

"Those are two of my middle names, Hermione. No."

"Two of them? How many middle names do you have?"

"None of your concern." he put another spoonful of gelato in his mouth.

The other suggested names included Fiend, Satan (Which was probably supposed to be a joke), and Midnight, all of which were vetoed. The group had been sitting there, suggesting names for well over fifteen minutes when Nico pulled the plastic spoon out of his mouth, which effectively silenced everyone at once.

"I think I'll name him Sebastian." He said slowly.

Victoria nodded. "Oh, my sister talks about him all the time on the phone. Good choice."

Nico nodded his head in her direction. Hermione looked rather confused, as did everyone else whose name wasn't either Victoria or Nico.

"Who's Sebastian?" she asked.

Victoria grinned and pulled out a cell phone, swiping to unlock and selecting one app or another. Victoria found a picture in what could only have been record time of the manga character with a cat, then shoving the screen under Hermione's nose. Hermione blinked once, then pushed the phone away slightly so she wasn't going cross-eyed trying to see the screen clearly. She pushed the phone back to Victoria.

"Okay, I understand. Have you two bought your school supplies yet?"

Harry then remembered that Nico honestly couldn't care less about birthday presents and had only come because neither he nor Harry had gotten their school supplies yet. "No, we haven't. But I think we picked a good day to come."

"Oh?" Hermione turned back to him.

"It seems that our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is doing autographs today."

"New Defense..." Hermione looked out the window, over and across the street to Flourish and Blotts. "You honestly think that the new teacher will be Gilderoy Lockhart?"

Nico gave her a look. "Did you even read the booklist? Who would assign so many books by Gilderoy Lockhart if not the author of them?"

Hermione blushed slightly at the obvious conclusion that Nico had come to.

"What do you think he's like? If he's done half the things that his books say he has, then I'm sure that he'll be a great teacher." said Neville. They all looked at him, and he shrugged. "My gran loves his books. They're the only thing she let me read until I was eight. Besides, he was a Ravenclaw himself, so he can't be too bad at the theory at least."

Nico shrugged.

* * *

They ended up in Gringotts before going anywhere else. Victoria and Hermione both needed to get some Muggle money exchanged for Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, and Nico and Harry needed to stop by their vaults. Draco was just happy to get to walk around without one of his parents looking over his shoulder at everything.

Hermione was excited. "Imagine all the treasures and artifacts hidden in the di Angelo vault."

Draco bumped shoulders with her. "Imagine all the heirlooms and dark objects. From what I understand, the di Angelos were not on the light side."

Nico gave a shrug that said _what can you do_, before smirking. "Vault twelve, please."

The first stop was Harry's vault, from which he just grabbed a purse worth of money. He seemed rather modest about the amount there was, and tried to get in and out as quickly as possible.

The ride to Nico's vault was a much longer one than most of them had predicted, and they stopped in front of what must have been the most magnificent door any of them had ever seen, set into the wall of a circular chamber with a dozen other doors just like it.

"I didn't think the di Angelo family was this old or this rich." Draco said, stroking an imaginary beard.

"Who ever said that this was the di Angelo vault?" Nico said, raising an eyebrow. "This is the Olympian vault. I have no need to draw from my family cache."

The goblin who had accompanied them, apparently named Slashfang, pressed his hand to the door and motioned for Nico to do the same. The door glowed black for what seemed like hours but was in reality only an instant. Nico and the goblin both removed their hands from the door, and it swung open on hinges that badly needed to be oiled, although it was probably just for effect because the goblins would never let the doors fall into such disrepair.

Nico rushed in, filled a black leather purse with gold from one side of the room, and as a second thought, grabbed a book off a shelf before putting it back. He closed the door behind him before anyone could say anything and got back into the cart. The others followed suit, but before the cart started moving, the goblin spoke to Nico.

"By the way, Lord di Angelo, your father left a message for you." Nico looked surprised for a moment before asking in a collected voice what the message was. "It was to stop at your family vault to collect something for him." at this point, the goblin leaned over and whispered the item in Nico's ear. His eyes widened.

"What on earth does he need that for?" Nico asked.

The goblin remained silent. Nico sighed. "Very well. Vault twenty five, please, Slashfang."

The ride was considerably shorter, and the di Angelo family vault was rather old. They were an Italian Ancient House, and it was said that they had been one of the families to help convince the Wizengamot to sanction Gringotts, seeing as there was already a highly successful goblin-run bank in Italy. They were rewarded by having a very high-security vault in Gringotts when it opened along with the other houses who helped. They included the French Malfoi family (Later adapted to Malfoy) and their allies the Lestrange family, along with the German Greengrasses (Adapted from Grünegras) among others. Nico, Draco, Neville, and Daphne had all mobbed him over Christmas last year and given him a brief history about Purebloods, considering he was of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter.

Nico curled his hand into a fist. The silver skull ring on his finger glinted with a menacing light. Nico walked up to the silver door in the wall and pressed his fist the door, his silver ring fitting an indent on its surface. A soft mewling began to emanate from the hood of Nico's jacket. Sebastian the kitten popped his head out from Nico's hood, gazing over his master's shoulder with sparkling amber eyes.

Nico reached up and scratched Sebastian's head. Nico pushed the vault doors open to reveal what looked more like a one-room mansion than a bank vault. There was an armory in one corner, with bookshelves lining one wall from top to bottom to the end of the vault. There was a small set of four-poster beds on one corner, with what looked like a kitchenette in another. There, in the last corner and farthest from the door, was a huge mound of glittering, iridescent coins that shone like stars. Across each available wall were shelves of artifacts and heirlooms, priceless things that just sat here collecting dust.

Hermione pointed. "What on earth are those?"

Nico followed her gaze. "Those are a higher form of Wizarding currency."

"Yes, but what are they called?"

Nico shared a look with Draco and Neville, the Purebloods-are-smarter-than-you-so-haha club. "Those are the alloy of Hephaestian Steel, Stygian Iron, Celestial Bronze, and Imperial Gold. They work in the godly world, in the wizarding world, wherever you can spend large coins like that. They're called Helves, and they're worth twenty Galleons each. It's really just to save space, come to think about it, seeing as otherwise you wouldn't be able to fit the entire di Angelo fortune in here."

"Your family is loaded." Terry said in awe. "How'd you get so much?"

Nico shrugged. "Stock markets. Do you know how much ten percent of a company gets you? Never mind, forget I asked."

Nico picked up Sebastian by the scruff of his neck and set him down on the floor. Victoria laughed.

"Look, it's Sebastian the bank kitten!"

Nico quickly went over to the bookshelves, then looked for a certain book. Towards the end, he stopped and took down a very old-looking book bound in black and silver cloth. He then took one look at it and put it back. Then he took down a simple-looking black book, rather a lot like a diary, and he scribbled something in it. His eyes widened at what happened. Nico threw the book on the ground in anger. Harry and Hermione rushed forward. He started cursing and raging in Italian.

"Nico, what is it?" Harry asked in alarm.

"It's a fake! The crackpot stole it!" Nico raged, his head in his hands.

"What was stolen?" Hermione asked.

Nico glared at her, at everything. "It's none of your concern. Harry, go back with them. Don't do anything stupid." then he ran off into the shadows, Sebastian the Bank kitten only barely managing to latch onto his master before they both disappeared.

* * *

Nico came back half an hour later, a sour look on his face like there was something rotten under his nose. When questioned on why he had stormed off like that, he gave no answer except just about every variation possible of 'None of your business'. Sebastian had been left in a safe place, he said, and they shouldn't worry about it or why he had just left so suddenly, so Victoria shut your mouth or I swear to the gods I will rip you a new one.

The group, Victoria, Tony, Terry, Nico, Hermione, Neville, and Harry, all entered Flourish and Blotts together, everyone in a circle around Harry in a feeble attempt to protect him from raging fangirls. It worked slightly, seeing as they noticed, but couldn't get near enough to ask him to sign their boobs and/or other places. They all collected their school books as quickly as they could, but before they could get to the cash register, Harry was spotted.

"Dear god," said Gilderoy Lockhart of the blonde hair and blue eyes. "It's Harry Potter!"

The photographer whirled around on a dime, grabbing Harry by the arm and posing him next to Lockhart, ready for a photograph. Before the man could take his picture for the Daily Prophet, Nico spun the man around by his shoulder.

"You might not know this," Nico growled, then looked at the man's security pass for the Prophet, "Mr. Harner, but it is illegal to photograph a minor with intent to publish without the consent of the minor's legal guardian."

"But, that's Harry Potter! This will get the front page, the two most famous wizards in the past twenty years!"

"I know full well who this is and that this would make the front page and further your career, but it is still a criminal offense. Now, put the camera down and come back when you have permission."

"But-"

"Sir, without express permission from this boy's legal guardian, the Daily Prophet has no right to publish Harry Potter's name or face."

"What's your name, kid? I'll need to take your picture to get this in-"

"Were you listening to a word that I just said? Believe it or not, I'm still a minor too, and I deny you my name and my legal guardian's name, and you may not take my picture."

The photographer made a face, but made no further attempts to take pictures of anyone besides Lockhart.

"Nico, you didn't have to do that." Harry groaned.

"He was violating your rights to not be published, but if you want to go back and tell him to forget everything that I just said to him, be my guest." Nico said.

Suddenly, a thought struck Harry. "Who is my magical guardian?"

"Albus Dumbledore." Nico snarled the name. "But once you get claimed, guardianship will automatically pass to your godly parent. In the Muggle world, guardianship will remain with the Dursleys."

Harry looked put down. "I'll have to stay with the Dursleys, then?"

Nico shook his head. "I'll find a way, don't worry. I do have a seat on the Wizengamot, as the head of an Ancient and Noble House, as do you. The Potters and the di Angelos were actually close allies, so I will have the best legal claim to you at this point."

"What do you mean? You're only two years older than me!" Harry said, shocked.

Nico smiled mysteriously. "As far as the world is concerned, Nicolai di Angelo was born in the nineteen thirties. And I do still have the family manor in Florence."

"Ron, Ron look! It's Harry Potter! Can I go kiss him yet?" came an ear-splitting voice from behind.

"Go ahead, Ginny." came the reply. A redheaded girl of maybe ten leaped forward and attempted to attach herself to Harry, but Nico brought up his hand to make a wall of shadows that the girl collided with unceremoniously.

"Hey, Potter, how much did you pay this guy to be your bodyguard?" Harry turned around to see the pockmarked face of Ronald Weasley.

Harry looked angry. 'Well, how much is Dumbledore paying you to try and belittle me, Weasley?"

Ronald looked livid, his face turning redder than his hair, edging on a rather ugly shade of red violet. "Well... did you know that your father was a cheat?" Suddenly, Flourish and Blotts was silent as a tomb. "Well, he was, after all, you aren't Lily Potter's son, are you?"

Harry pulled back his fist, ready to deck Weasley right then and there, but Nico held him back. Nico stepped forward.

"I had rather chop this hand off at a blow and with the other fling it at thy face. His intellect is not replenished, he is only an animal, only sensible in the duller parts. Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat." Nico stuck the nail of his thumb underneath his front teeth and flipped it outward, creating a sound not entirely unlike a fingernail breaking. Nico then turned on his heel and beckoned to the others to follow him. Just before he was out the door, Nico turned again, and said, almost pityingly, "I do desire we may be better strangers."

Then he led his group away, leaving all in attendance to wonder what the hell had just gone down.

* * *

The group decided to stop at the Leaky Cauldron before heading back to various rendezvous points with whoever had brought them here. The group elected Nico and Hermione to go get the butterbeers for them all. At the bar, Hermione turned to Nico.

"So, I just wanted to ask, about that moment on the train..." Hermione blushed and couldn't meet his eyes.

Nico looked at her, a slight pitying look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but that was just a moment of weakness. We shouldn't have done that, and I regretted it the moment that it happened." She looked away from him. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek, hugging her. "But I hope that we can still be friends."

Hermione nodded, she too kissing him on the cheek and hugging back.

Neither of them noticed Victoria with her phone in the background, her mobile angled just right for a photo to send to her sister.

* * *

**Wise: Chapter Three: Sebastian the Bank Kitten**

**Word Count: 3,640**

**Post Date: 8/19/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**GUYS I DID IT I GAVE NICO A KITTY ARE YOU PROUD OF ME YET**

**I did the thing again where I found an amazing place to stop before I intended to and I was tired and I wanted to go to sleep**

**I wrote practically this entire chapter last night because I took procrastination to a whole new level and wrote maybe ten words a day because GODDAMN, HOT SHIRTLESS SWIMMER BOYS. And by that, I mean I was rewatching Free! Eternal Summer in preparation for the new episode tomorrow. I like to think of the new Free! as my reward for writing awesome chapters for you guys.**

**On the subject of Free!, how many of you watch that? I need to know because, as stated in a previous A/N, I am writing a fic for that. I said that I would start posting once I was done writing it, but that might or might not end up being a lie.**

**Remember that poll on my profile? The one about the Victoria/Terry/Tony thing? It only has five votes on it, which is one more than last time I checked. I'll be closing that poll on the 26th, because then I'll probably start writing fluff for people. Fluffy fluff that is fluffy and soft. Soft as a baby's ass.**

**Yes, Nico got a kitty, and yes, I was trying to make a reference by naming it Sebastian. And also spoilers.**

**Does anyone think I went overboard with Nico protecting Harry's legal right not to have his photograph published? As famous as he is, Harry is still a minor, and I don't know how things work in the wizarding world, but there must be enough people who make the laws with enough common sense to protect minors from the media. Harry has the right to demand that his name and face not be published anywhere without his consent or his legal guardian's. Legally, Dumbledore would be Harry's guardian, I know, but he is an unfit guardian, Harry having only met the guy three times max that he can remember. Proserpina will bring this up with the Wizengamot.**

**I also would like to point out that I did say that Nico was rather fond of Shakespeare, and all of the insults he used on Ron were Shakespearean. The 'biting of the thumb' was basically giving Ron the Elizabethan finger. Needless to say, I think that Nico is a huge closet geek.**

**I also remember Nico's owl that he had at the train station in the first chapter of Ravenclaw, that was Pluto's owl. He lent it to Nico because otherwise Nico wouldn't send him a full report on which house had the highest concentration of demigods and what the blazes were the ghosts doing nowadays anyway and other stuff like that. But after the letter with all the info was sent, the bird didn't come back. Pluto kept it. It was already dead anyway.**

**Victoria understood the reference because her sister is Trix Cooper, who I have stated as "She also had a phone, and she kept texting someone called Alexandra and reading a comic that she'd downloaded a while ago ('Shut up Percy, it's called manga.')". Trix reads manga and watches anime when she can. She was really excited about the new Free! and the new Black Butler, which she has both watched and read. Trix calls her sister weekly except when Victoria's on Hogwarts campus, because she says that she gets really shitty service out there. Trix likes to talk about her anime and her manga, so Victoria knows all about this stuff.**

**For those of you who didn't catch the reference, Sebastian was a clue towards Sebastian Michaelis, the demon butler from Black Butler (Not counting Claude, because he was only in the very canon divergent second season, which was basically one big OVA). He's hot and he loves cats.**

**That was a long A/N, wasn't it?**

**In short,**

**-Excuses**

**-Poll info because go vote, goddamnit**

**-Free! fic**

**-Nico being a politician in training**

**-Nico being a closet Shakespeare geek**

**-Explanation of the insults**

**-In case you didn't catch the reference**

**Okay, then, love you all. 'Night.**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	6. Choo Choo Train

**Q:Anomaly (Guest): Hey! Great update as always! It's a shame that I was the only person to review. All of your other readers are probably busy because most schools have already started or are starting up soon. Mine started yesterday. I'm only on because I have MAJOR sleep issues. But anyway... NICO HAS A KITTEN! AWWWWWWWWW! :) I just love the idea of cold, dark Nico di Angelo, prince of the Underworld... having a fluffy little kitten. Just... wow. Netflix recommended the show Black Butler to me. Is it any good? I love the geeky, Shakespearean Nico thing. That's just awesome. And I love this story. Keep up the amazing work! :)**

**A: I just hopped on the 'Nico needs a cat' bandwagon. Also, watch Black Butler, but not the whole thing if you want to stick to the manga. Most of season 1 and all of season 2 are completely canon divergent and are not to be trusted. If you're gonna stick to the manga, only watch episodes 1-6, 13-15 of season 1, none of season 2, and all of season 3. You should also watch the anime Free!, which is amazing and rapidly taking over my life. For example, earlier this week, I felt the urge at 1 in the morning to draw the characters as mermaids, which this fandom has a surprising amount of. Just watch the anime. Shirtless, single swimmer boys except for these two who might as well be married already. And the Shakespeare geek Nico just had to be done by someone, so I did it to save other people the trouble.**

**Q: summer1145: I really love the fic! Keep going!(nico cat is awesome I missed the reference though I thought it was mortal instruments or something)**

**A: I hope I don't piss anyone off here, but I've never read the Mortal Instruments, nor do I have any inclination to do so. I simply felt the need to give Nico a cat and name it Sebastian.**

* * *

The journey to the Hogwarts Express was entirely uneventful. Just run at a brick wall and suddenly, you're on a magical platform with a train that goes nowhere and everywhere.

Nico, as usual, was the first of his little posse to get on the train, which left him the solemn duty of finding them all a compartment. But this time, Harry was with him, already talking Nico's ear off about how excited he was to go back for a new year and how he was going to see all of his Hufflepuff friends again. Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins probably had something hilarious planned to welcome the first-years to Hogwarts and the amazingness that was Hufflepuff house.

Harry tittered on about how much he missed the routine of it all and he wondered whether Lockhart would be a good or a bad teacher and a wide variety of other meaningless fancies that Nico was slowly starting to tune out. He was soon saved from loose-lipped Harry hell when other people started getting on the train, which made Harry shy again, which effectively silenced him. Nico took initiative and pulled out The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien while it was still silent, ready to read for a good seven and a half hours, wherein he would probably finish his book. Sebastian the kitten, who could easily fit into Nico's pocket, poked his head out before climbing onto Nico's lap, nuzzling his head into Nico's palm to get scratched behind the ear.  


Nico liked cats. He always had, vaguely remembering his mother owning a Prussian Blue which had kittens with the neighborhood tomcat. Nico would spend his entire day playing with the kittens, naming each of them the most ridiculous things. He named one of them Giovanni, after his mother's uncle who was very mean and looked like the softest breath of the wind would blow him away, which Nico had always had fun imagining, because those thoughts often led to imagining the old man on a kite string, fluttering in the breeze. In any case, Nico very much liked cats because they were among the small number of animals who didn't shy away from him when he went to pet them. When Nico had moved to the underworld, he came to like cats even more, not taking too much to the Hellhounds that Pluto kept. Nico had honestly been very pleased when he had been gifted Sebastian, but he just didn't know how to react.

The first of the rest of their group to arrive was the quintet Terry, Tony, Seamus, and Dean, all of them talking about their summers and how they would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Over the summer, Seamus' hair had grown out more, the fringe mostly covering his non-functioning eye. He had gotten more freckles, and had also grown about three inches since Nico last saw him on the platform last spring. Seamus now towered over Dean, Terry, and Tony, which he seemed very pleased about, while Terry, Dean, and Tony seemed to despise Seamus' growth spurt.

Dean looked much the same, albeit a tad thinner and maybe a few centimeters taller. His hair was still close-cropped and black, more like peach fuzz than anything else. His eyes were still warm chocolate-brown and his skin was still the color of coffee, no milk, no sugar.

Terry and Tony still looked the same from when Nico had seen them three days ago in Diagon Alley when he had cussed out Ronald Weasley in Shakespearian. Terry still had his blonde hair and big hazel eyes, as did Tony, although Terry had grown an inch or so. Since the end of last term, Tony's hair had grown out just a bit and adapted a slight curl on the ends.

The next to arrive was Victoria Cooper, in all her flamboyance. She'd grown exactly zero inches and one half centimeter. She had gotten a haircut, the length having changed greatly from the small of her back to her shoulders, making it seem as though she was a good year or two younger than she actually was. Her smile was wide, but she seemed to be refusing to open her mouth at all cost. She brightened when she saw Sebastian in Nico's lap, and went to pick up the kitten but Nico gave her the stink eye.

The next to arrive were Neville and Hermione. Neville looked very much the same, although he had lost a bit of weight. He looked a bit closer to his real age now, which was somewhere close to twelve, although Nico was unsure when his birthday was. His hair was still the same length, albeit more brown now than blonde. His eyes were still big and brown, which probably attributed to his looking too young.

Hermione was, as much as Nico tried to suppress the thought, looking very stunning. Her eyes, once brown, were a beautiful silvery-grey, the same as they were for every child of Athena or Minerva. While Hermione lacked the blonde hair common in children of the goddess of wisdom, she more than made up for it with her voluminous mass of bushy brown curls, as if she had stuck one finger into an electrical socket and someone had turned the power on. She had gotten a few centimeters taller in the past three months, but not so much as to make a huge difference. Her cheeks were thinner and her skin paler, as if she had spent the entire summer inside, with all the windows shut and the lights off, also forgetting to eat half the time and neglecting sleep. Nico only knew what that looked like from doing it himself one too many times, and probably would've starved himself to death if his father hadn't sent someone to remind him to eat the food with minor sedatives in it to make sure he slept. But, still, in all her buck-toothed glory, she was beautiful to Nico.

There was about fifteen minutes where no-one entered their compartment at all, and all of them remained silent, so as not to start the conversation without the last member of their group. It took him a while, but eventually Draco Malfoy slid the door open. Draco had grown maybe an inch since the start of summer, and his hair had remained the same, probably due to his father forcing him to get a haircut. His eyes were still the same grey that they always had been. Draco looked like someone had stretched him out, his bone structure more defined and his face longer.

Nico, sensing that everyone was looking at him to start a discussion, sighed. He placed his bookmark in the margin and closed the pages. He set the book down beside him on the seat. "What do you want?" he asked irritably.

Hermione looked at him, crossing her arms. "What was that about at Gringotts? You raged at a book for no apparent reason."

Nico glared at her, but only half-heartedly."That is none of your concern. It is between me and my father. Now, unless there is something worth talking about, I'm going back to my book."

Draco cleared his throat. "What kind of teacher do you think Lockhart will be? Good? Bad? Somewhere in-between?"

Nico looked around. He gestured to Harry to start.

Harry looked nervous. Him? Speak in front of people? No way. "Um, I don't think he'll be bad, but I don't think he'll be good either."

Hermione nodded. "Go on."

The more Harry spoke, the more confident he became. "I think he'll be too self-obsessed to really teach us anything important, but that means that we'll get easy tests because he'll have to write them himself, and he doesn't know his stuff." He turned to Hermione. "What do you think?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "I think that he'll be a perfectly competent teacher as long as he sticks to the theory. He was a Ravenclaw when he was at school, so he must be book smart at least. But he doesn't look like the type of man who would practice spellwork at all, and probably learned the bare minimum at school with wandwork, but went all-out on the theory." she looked to Draco.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know what to make of him. He seems like the everyday celebrity who may or may not be a pedophile."

Nico raised an eyebrow. Possible pedophile had not been on Nico's original analysis of Lockhart, but it should be added at the first chance.

Victoria just got out all the insults she'd been saving up all summer, cussing out Lockhart for things he probably didn't do. Neville had no comment, seeing as he was afraid someone would overhear him and send a letter to his gran. Augusta Longbottom was one of the many women in the wizarding world who was in love with Gilderoy Lockhart. Seamus and Dean had neither met nor even heard of the man, and thus could offer no opinion. Terry and Tony simply decided to stay out of it.

The group all turned and stared at Nico, who had long since picked his book back up. Of course, he hadn't turned the page in ten minutes, as he was listening with the illusion of not. Nico looked at them over the top of the book, pretending to have only just realized they were looking at him again. "I will give no clear opinion on him as I do not have all the necessary facts."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"On another topic, talk amongst yourselves about the fact that you'll be claimed this year."

This shocked them all, and Nico inwardly grinned. He put his book back in front of his face. With any luck, that would keep them occupied at least until the food trolley came around.

* * *

The food trolley came and went, but Hermione complained bitterly about how they were all going to get diabetes and cavities from all the sweets they bought. Nico set down his book and rubbed his temples. Seamus had started pulling small firecrackers from his pockets and setting them off with a lighter he'd nicked from his dad. Victoria and Draco had started arguing over something, probably Quidditch, Dean, Neville, Terry, and Tony were all watching the firecrackers, Harry was asleep against Victoria's shoulder, and Hermione was still complaining.

Under normal circumstances, Nico wouldn't have minded the noise, but he had a migraine and all their jabbering and explosions weren't helping his headache at all. Nico closed his eyes and the shadows crawled across the floor, out of the corners and from under the seats. They hiked up the walls and flooded the ceiling, leaving no surface untouched. The cabin fell silent. Hermione touched his shoulder.

"Nico, what's wrong?" she asked.

Nico pushed her arm away. "Headache. All of you shut up."

Sebastian the kitten pushed his head against Nico's hand, vying for his attention. Nico ignored his cat, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes. Spots of color flashed like stars in the blackness that became Nico's sight. In that blackness, Nico could see souls, the souls of the living as they walked the corridor between compartments or in the compartments themselves. The colors were always somewhere between white and black, which is to say they ranged across the entire color spectrum. Nico turned his head to the door, noting an ugly red-orange life force outside their compartment, the approximate size and shape of one of the most annoying people to ever walk the earth. Nico muttered some not-very-nice things in Italian about the people about to open their door.

Nico removed his hands from his eyes just in time to see the door open. In strode the youngest Weasley boy, flanked by his cronies, Jakobs and Johnson, and a girl who appeared to be a Weasley herself. Nico sat up straighter, as did the others. They corrected postures and blanked their faces. Nico started to pet Sebastian, who purred loudly on Nico's lap.

Weasley Male snorted. "Really? A cat? How girlish. Are you sure you're straight?"

Nico lifted an eyebrow. "Is that all you have? Wonderful opener, by the way."

Weasley Female squealed like a greased pig. She pointed at Harry. "Look, look, Ron, it's Harry Potter!"

Weasley Male pushed her face off his shoulder. "Get off me, Ginny." he looked to the others in the compartment. "Just fork over Potter and we'll leave. We just want what's best fr him, after all."

Dean almost stood, but there came a thin but strong belt of shadows about his waist to keep him in his seat. Nico glared at the boy. "Just go away, Weasley, I don't have the energy for this today." Nico said, not breaking eye contact with Weasley Male.

Weasley Female didn't wait for a cue or anything, she rushed under her brother's arm and pounced on Harry and started gushing about something or other.

"Oi!" came a voice from the hallway. "What's the traffic for? Get a move on!"

"We can't, there's some Gryffindors clogging the hall!"

There was a jostling sound from the corridor and a bubblegum-pink head pushed through. "What's going on here?" said she, annoyed.

Nico recognised the girl, a seventh-year Hufflepuff name Nymphadora Tonks. She had been a prefect last year and the year before, which made it no surprise the badge on her breast that read 'Head Girl' in a fancy script. She was by no means outstanding academically, but she was hardworking and loyal.

Nico stood. "These people simply barged in here and Miss Weasley attacked Mister Potter. Mister Weasley insulted me and made his intentions of kidnapping Mister Potter clear."

Tonks looked around the compartment. "Is this true?" she asked both Neville and Hermione, who looked like the least likely to lie. Both nodded. Tonks rounded on Nico. "And how did you retort?"

"I asked if that was the best he could do and complimented him on his wonderful conversation starter." Nico said curtly.

Tonks glared at the two perpetrators and dragged them by their ears into the hall and off to somewhere, probably about to get an earful. The two goons followed awkwardly.

Nico picked his book back up and tried to ignore his headache again.

* * *

**Wise: Chapter Four: All Aboard**

**Word Count:2,456**

**Post Date:8/26/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**Shit. Did I do my thing again? I need to stop that. I tried to make it as long as I could, but I wanted to make the train ride its own chapter and not anything else, so I ended up cutting short. I thought I could make it longer, I really did, but I'm not sorry. Not sorry because reasons. Although, I am sorry because this is quite possibly one of the crappiest chapters I've ever written.**

**Guess what? I go back to school in a few days, so I'll be in hell by the time you get the next chapter. The voting on the poll closed with only five votes, which was disappointing in and of itself. The winner was a threesome between Vic, Terry, and Tony.**

**I decided that Tonks would be Head Girl because she's badass and always set an awesome example in my mind. So there.**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	7. The Welcoming Feast

**Q: Anomaly (Guest): WOW. So you're making Nico 100% straight in this? Okay. I love how they're constantly outwitting Ron, though this prissy, horrible Ginny was not what I expected. Fantastic update as always, I love the way you portray Nico. Great job, and update again soon! :)**

**A: Nico won't be 100% straight in this story. I think that he's asexual, but has his passing fancies. He tries and mostly succeeds in oppressing them, and thus distancing himself from them, but he doesn't limit his attentions to one gender or the other. He's panromantic asexual, so he could theoretically fall in love with either gender, but the relationship wouldn't be purely physical. He feels little to no inclination to have sex, and thus would more base the relationship on common interests and just liking the person's personality in general, so he wouldn't care about physical attributes . They would be an added bonus, but not the base of the relationship.**

**In short, Nico is bi.**

**A: MoonWatersLight: Oh my gosh! I haven't been able to read your story for so long! I missed it. I am so sorry! I love your story a lot, I truly do. If it helps, you've done a wonderful job! I've just been busy with school and catching up because I got sick. Please update when you can! :)**

**A: Hello there, my lovely! I know that school can be a bitch, I just started back up and refuse to pull any more all-nighters to finish chapters. So they might start being a bit late.**

**For those of you who were confused about Harry's name actually being Henry in chapter 4, here's the explanation. In Britain, the common nickname for Henry was 'Harry', as portrayed here in the poem by King Henry VIII**

**"Then soon discuss that hence we must.**

** Pray we to God and Saint Mary**

**That all amend, and here an end,**

_** Thus saith the king, the eighth Harry,**_

** Though some saith that youth ruleth me."**

* * *

The Hogwarts Express screeched to a halt beside the platform in Hogsmeade Station. Nico disembarked the train first out of all his companions, as he had last year and all previous years, if Harry had to make an educated guess.

And, just as last year, Nico managed to pull off the billowing black robes rather nicely, the cloth folding at just the right places to hide the Ravenclaw blue lining. Nico beckoned for the others to follow him as he strode towards a long line of carriages that sat, waiting in line to make their way up the long and winding path to the castle and by proxy, warmth and food. Nico reached forward to touch something that blended in perfectly with the back night. The only part of the something that Harry could make out were two glowing, pearly orbs that would disappear occasionally behind black shutters.

"Nico, what's that you're doing?" Neville asked, not exactly seeing the something either.

"This, Neville, is a thestral." Nico replied, and a memory jogged in Harry's mind. While they were in the Underworld, Harry had made a comment about how is was a shame that every animal ever shied away from Nico because horseback riding looked really fun. Nico had smirked and dragged Harry to a set of stables behind the palace, wherein there was row upon row of thestrals, black lizard-horse hybrids that blended in almost perfectly with the black stone of the walls behind them, save for their creepy white eyes. "Don't feel left out if you can't see them, you can only see a thestral if you've seen death."

"What do they look like?" asked Hermione, hungry for new knowledge.

"They're skin and bone, black, rather scaly, actually, but other than that they look like horses." Nico summarized.

Then Draco opened his mouth. "So they're like undead pegasi?" he asked, not appearing to be joking in the slightest. Nico turned to glare at him, and Draco shrank away. "Okay, okay, not zombie pegasi, not zombie pegasi."

Nico looked back to the thestral, and now Harry knew exactly what he was looking for. He saw the reptilian horse, scaly and giving the impression of nothing beneath the skin. The carriage at the very front of the queue started to move, which was the sign for Nico to wrench open the door to their own carriage, which was close to the back, and hop in quick as you please. Harry followed close behind, then Neville, Hermione, and the others.

Almost as soon as Draco's foot struck the step, their carriage lurched forward as the thestrals began to move. Draco stumbled, losing his footing for an instant and one hand falling from the carriage, leaving him hanging on for dear life with one hand. Seamus and Tony, who were seated nearest the door on either side, stood shakily, holding onto the seat with one hand and reaching to pull Draco in with the other. Together, the two boys managed to pull Draco into the carriage where he slumped next to Victoria. Victoria rubbed circles into his back while Draco tried to get over his near-death experience. Note the sarcasm.

Hermione, who had been staring at the ground, looked at Nico. "Say, Nico," she started. "How is the claiming done?"

Nico smiled that knife-thin smile of his, before replying. "A hologram appears above your head with your parent's symbol of power in it. There's this one person who knows them all and will tell you who just claimed you. That's how it's done."

"When is it done, though?"

"After all the first-years have gone to bed. That's why you didn't see it last year." Nico looked out the window, uninterested with the conversation. It was another fifteen minutes before the silence was broken again.

"Nico," Victoria spoke up. "Why is there a huge rift between the houses?"

Nico turned back to the faces of the second-years around him. The darkness around them was only penetrated by the even darker shade of Nico's eyes, and it struck Harry that his half-brother was so very dangerous. Nico's eyes were holding something that danced on the verge of genius, insanity, and pain that threatened to spill, although the pain wasn't from this subject, why should it be?

Nico decided, after a few minutes of silence, to tell them. "Back in the first days of Hogwarts, so around the sixteenth century, the four founders got along pretty well with each other. They met in the court of King Henry VIII and ended up deciding to open a school for magic."

At this point, Tony felt the need to interrupt. "Sorry, but Hogwarts was only founded in the Tudor Era? But I thought that it was started in the thirteen hundreds."

Nico glared at the younger boy. "The souls of the dead cannot lie to me, and Rowena Ravenclaw was only a few years older than Henry VIII. She served in his court, as did Salazar Slytherin.

"Now, back to the story, originally, Godric Gryffindor wanted to build an entirely new castle of his own devising, which would've been no problem with his allowance from the crown and from his own father as well. But Salazar Slytherin's father, the Lord Sebastian Slytherin, had recently died, leaving Salazar as the last living Slytherin to bear the name. This left Slytherin with a vast amount of land and several estates. The largest was Slytherin Hold, located in Scotland as the Slytherins were descended from Scottish nobility. Slytherin decided, with the agreement of Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff that Slytherin Hold was a better location for a school, as it was very isolated. This left Gryffindor rather bitter towards Slytherin, something about manpride which I haven't the time to get into the details of right now.

"So Slytherin Hold was the spot agreed upon for the school, which was originally to be called the Merlin and Morgana Academy For the Education of Those Blessed In the Magical Arts, but Gryffindor disagreed and, when he took the request for the school to Gringotts, who were and still are in charge of that sort of thing, he changed the name on the papers for the school, just to get back at the others for going against him on the location. He may or may not have been slightly or more than slightly drunk at the time, it has not yet been specified," the look in Nico's eyes said that he had spoken with Gryffindor's ghost, and he had most definitely been drunk when he went to ask to have the school authorized. "but he seemed to think for about five seconds. He told me that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had been debating the uses of the hogwart plant earlier that day, and Gryffindor thought it was perfect. He spelled the paper to say 'Hogwarts', accidentally adding an 's' to the end, and got the permission from the goblins."

Terry spoke up. "But I didn't think that Gringotts was open when Hogwarts was founded."

"We just went over this, Terry, Hogwarts was founded in the Tudor Era, a good century after the opening of Gringotts. If I get interrupted one more time, you'll never get to hear the end of the story, so just be quiet.

"When the others saw what Gryffindor had done, they were furious, and understandably so. After that, many things happened, including the school opening and last-minute changes occurring to the curriculum when the students couldn't keep up and things like that. But I'll sum up the next few years for you. Slytherin got married to Ravenclaw, Gryffindor banged all the girls and some of the boys in his house, _Terry shut up or I will rip you a new one I don't care what you have to say on the matter, I'm telling you a story godsdamnit_, Slytherin and Ravenclaw had two kids, and all the while, all of Hufflepuff sat on the sidelines with a bag of popcorn, which is to say, doing nothing but finding it the best sitcom ever. Gryffindor got drunk and tried to boot Slytherin off his own land, and called the aurors, saying that Slytherin was a dark wizard. The Slytherins were not the lightest family out there, and Salazar had gotten his two strikes when he was younger, almost breaking the Statute of Secrecy to keep Henry VIII from killing the entire court. Slytherin was hauled away, and none of them ever forgave Gryffindor and that, children, is why no-one likes Gryffindors at all."

* * *

The Welcoming Feast promised to be a frivolous affair, with friends who hadn't seen each other in months getting together again and the like. The Sorting opened the occasion, with a few of the sortings being "Creevey, Colin" stalling but eventually deciding of Hufflepuff, "Harper, Nathan" going to Slytherin, "Lovegood, Luna" becoming a Ravenclaw, and finally, "Weasley, Ginevra" going to Gryffindor to match her hair.

Dumbledore, and as Nico liked to refer to the headmaster, 'the great interfering coot', raided his hands for silence. He started his speech, which was mainly boring, about school rules and other related matters, before he got to the point of things.

"I would like to introduce first our prefects for the year. From Gryffindor, we have Oliver Wood, Rosemary Noble, Patrick Saunders, and Kathleen Rogers. From Hufflepuff, we have David Garreths, Hope Ramone, Gabriel Truman, and Lucinda Schmidt. From Ravenclaw, we have Percival Weasley, Penelope Clearwater, Colin Devereux, and Naomi Burdges. From Slytherin, we have Michael Garza, Emily Otto, Lysander Greengrass, and Isabel Allens. This year's Head Boy is Simon Jones, and this year's Head Girl is Nymphadora Tonks." Here Dumbledore paused, so as to let the various houses finish cheering for their prefects and especially loud if they were Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. "I would also like to introduce this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart!"

And up stood the man of the hour, Gilderoy Lockhart. His hair was plastered into perpetual wavyness, his eyes were cobalt blue, and his smile was bright enough to blind someone. Geez, you don't need to use an entire box of whitening strips in one go. He looked like he had tried to make himself into a copy of Simon from Ravenclaw and had only half succeeded. Lockhart winked at the Gryffindor table and all the girls there passed out. As much as Harry was loathe to say it, his own house wasn't much better. The only house which seemed to have completely escaped his 'charm' was Slytherin, but the Slytherins were a rather emotionless bunch.

Speaking of Slytherin, Harry started looking for Daphne. A flash of her platinum blonde hair as she turned to talk to a friend, the beautiful icy blue of her eyes. Daphne Greengrass was the one girl on the planet that Harry wouldn't mind dating. She was gorgeous, she was polite, she was smart, and her witty compliments that she used to get to the top of the social ladder could be easily used to cut rather than to entice. As soon as Daphne had become the undisputed queen of Slytherin, her respectfulness towards her housemates ended if they didn't show the same to her. As it was plain to see, Daphne was a person who believed strongly in 'Treat others how you with to be treated', and would make no hesitations to publicly humiliate you if you even tried to do the same to her.

Daphne was beautiful. She had long, straight platinum blonde that shone white in the sun. Her eyes were an icy blue to match her spirit, easily playful at times, but sharp and cold the next instant. Her nose was long and straight, only turning to swoosh upward to point at the end. She had pale skin and a dusting of freckles that were only noticeable if someone, more often than not named Victoria or Tracey, managed to 'accidentally' push one into the other or into small spaces. Her smile was like the moon, distant and almost unbelievable, but there sometimes.

But Daphne was sitting across from her brother, Lysander, who was fiercely protecting of his little sister. He glared at Harry from across the hall, a silent warning to stay away from Daphne or else terrible things would happen leading to there being nothing left but either ashes or smoke. Harry hurriedly paced his glance back on his plate just in time to see food appear all across the table. Tonks, closer to the middle of the long table, was getting clapped on the back by her housemates in congratulations for becoming Head Girl and all of them honestly thinking that it would've gone to some stuck-up Gryffindor.

Harry's views on the four houses were very fair, in his opinion, and very well deserved. Gryffindors each walked around with it branded in their skull that they thought they were the only person in the whole world who cared about one thing or another and how no-one else would understand and they just angsted so much that everyone else was drowning in excess Gryffindor angst.

Hufflepuffs were the best, obviously, because they were the only house in the entire school with Internet access so they almost never had to study because they could just look it all up at once and how cool was that in your face Ravenclaw. Hufflepuffs were perfectly content to just sit on the sidelines and watch everything play out, then hop in at just the right moment to get what they needed. When Gryffindors and Slytherins were busy having parent-issue contests, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws just sat on the sidelines with popcorn and talked about how Gryffindor would win out of pure superior angsts levels.

Ravenclaws were pretty awesome too, although not nearly as awesome as Hufflepuffs. The Hufflepuffs had been afraid that the Ravenclaws were stealing the WiFi password while no-one was looking after Cedric Diggory started to date Cho Chang, because Cho had always been one of those better suited to Gryffindor or Slytherin and why else would she go for someone honest and nice like Cedric if not to get the WiFi password?

Slytherins were the third best house, because they just had too many parent issues and only got higher on the list than Gryffindors because green was a better color than red. Slytherins angsted too, but not nearly as much as the Gryffindors. However, Gryffindor angst was tainted by the angst of others, so Slytherin angst was purer. Quality over quantity, as Harry's uncle had once said the opposite of in regards to money.

Eventually, Tonks stood up and motioned for the other prefects to do so as well. Every prefect in the hall stood at the joint command of Tonks and Simon from Ravenclaw, and with a simple gesture, the prefects went to lead their underclassmen from the Great Hall to the dorms.

The Hufflepuff dormitories were in the dungeons, but not in the smelly, moldy and menacing part like with the Slytherins, but in the happy, warm area right next to the kitchens where midnight parties would sometimes happen. The way to get into the Hufflepuff dormitories was simply by tapping the syllables of the password on a brick on a wall in a passageway somewhere not in the mean part of the dungeons.

This password, which would be very temporary and just until the little firsties got used to the whole thing after about two weeks, would be 'Helga Hufflepuff'. Last year, the passwords had all been different plants. This year, it would have to be something different, probably already decided on by the prefects. Harry entered the Hufflepuff common room following Dean, who had been Harry's real best friend all year long last year. While Dean was also friends with Seamus, Seamus was a crush (One too many butterbeers last Christmas (courtesy of the Weasley Twins plus Lee Jordan) had revealed that) while Harry was friend to count on and do stupid stuff with and get away with it because the authority figures had actually been helping you the whole time.

The Hufflepuff common room looked like a giant mutant bumblebee had exploded on a rave. It was completely boss, black and yellow everywhere in every shade of each, and it even had a disco ball that descended from the ceiling. The floor could give someone a seizure under the right conditions and no-one had actually figured out if it was the Weasley Twins who had been stocking the beer cooler but it was a safe assumption that they hadn't denied.

Speaking of the Weasley Twins, there they entered despite not having been at dinner. Lee Jordan was with them, having been with them the whole time and not at dinner either.

"So Fred, George, Lee," started Lucinda, the sixth-year prefect. "Where were you?"

Fred grinned. Last year, the Ravenclaw Weasley, Percy, had helped the Hufflepuff firsties figure out which one was Fred and which one was George. The differences were very subtle, the difference being that Fred's grin went to the left and George's went to the right. "Well, Lucy, funny story, that one."

Harry's eyes widened, as did everyone elses', as they listened to Fred, George, and Lee's descriptions of where they had been. Fred and George had missed the train, having stopped to buy coffee. Lee, being the good friend he was, had waited for them on the platform and thus had also missed the train. The three of them had the brilliant idea to hotwire Mr. Weasley's car and drive it to school. At first, this seemed really stupid, considering the distance it was from London to Hogwarts and the time it took by train. Then Fred had told them all that the car had the amazing abilities of both flight and invisibility. While Nico or Hermione or Victoria or Terry, Tony, or Seamus would've launched into how stupid that was and how the time difference between driving on land and through the air would've been no different because reasons, Harry and everyone else just congratulated them on their gutsiness.

After a while and a shot of Firewhiskey for everyone, the first years were sent off to bed. Almost as soon as the last dorm door had closed on the first-years, a holographic image appeared over the head of one of their classmates, Susan Bones, now a claimed daughter of Ceres.

The Claiming had begun.

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**Wise: Chapter Five: The Welcoming Feast**

**Word Count: 3,133**

**Post date:9/3/14**

**Additional Notes:**

**Not sorry about the late update at all because I refused to stay up all night to finish it last night. So there.**

**I literally had no motivation at all for this chapter. I had no idea how to start it and once I did, I didn't know where to go from there.**

**As it seems, I did just as my name suggests and I procrastinated. This led to me not being able to finish the chapter in time for Tuesday. Under other circumstances, I would be more than happy to stay up half the night to finish the chapter, but I had school today and refused to risk falling asleep during class to pump out another two thousand words or more. I will get you your update later than usual, which will have effect of next week's schedule. If I get the chapter to you tomorrow, I get the chapter to you tomorrow. If I get the chapter to you later today, then I get the chapter to you later today. But I refuse to risk my grades to get you your chapter because I am a horrible person and will always put myself first from now on.**

**By the way, you guys should probably know that I don't even start writing a new chapter until I get a review, which is unfortunate for both me and for you, because quality of the chapters depends on whether I get sleep, which doesn't happen if I have to stay up half the night writing.**

**I will****TRY****to get you your new chapters every week, but if I need more time, then I need more time. I will make no promises, however, on the actual span of time between chapters. The average time will be a week. Sometimes, it will be more than that, but never less.**

**On that note, I will now give you a choice. Would you rather I a) give you unfinished chapters on time, or b) give you finished chapters late? The choice is yours, my precious, poll is up on my profile and if it doesn't get more than five votes, then I will simply assume that you want me to**_**STOP WRITING ALL TOGETHER**_ **so you have been warned. Poll will close on the fourteenth of September.**

**If you skipped over this A/N, your loss and you risk losing this story completely. If this story is put on hiatus, then two weeks after the hiatus begins, I will check to see how many of you reviewed to say that I need to continue or something along those lines. 7+ vote yes, then I might continue it. I'll probably be writing as I wait for a response anyways.**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	8. So Sorry It's an AN

**I'm gonna get so much hate for this, aren't I?**

**I have decided to make the average time span between chapters closer to two weeks because my procrastination can only be put aside for long enough for me to do my homework, and I also intend to join a club or two at school. I know, I shouldn't try to put off chapters, but I said last chapter that if I needed time, I needed time.**

**I have gotten a grand total of two votes on my poll of when to update. I close the poll on the fourteenth of September PST. Get your votes in.**

**Also, I have started up, against my better judgement, an askblog on deviantART. I just want an excuse to draw more, and this presented itself. It's called Ask Mer Grelliam, and as the name suggests, it's Grell and William from Black Butler as merpeople. I have gotten exactly zero asks so far, so if you watch Black Butler and ship Grelliam, ask me something, please.**

**I started reading Shingeki no Kyojin, so win.**

**If any of you watch Free, a one-shot is in the works for that. It'll be Rinharu with extremely minor Reigisa and Seigou. I actually haven't decided whether the antagonist will be Makoto or Sousuke, because I love them both to death but I also really want to get out some Makoharu bashing so that I don't have it in my soul anymore in the event of a Makoharu love confession in the next episode.**

**Also...**

**Q: Anomaly (Guest): Hey! Thanks for clearing up the details about Nico. So: Hufflepuffs keep the wifi password? What's the deal with Hogwarts wifi? That's an interesting touch, though. I liked the idea that Hufflepuffs (the most underrated house) have something that the rest of the school does not. I like Hufflepuffs. Great update, as usual. Update again soon! :)**

**A: I have this headcanon that Hufflepuffs are secretly the most badass people ever, which is exactly why there are no Greek Hufflepuffs.**

**The Hogwarts WiFi password is a closely guarded secret, known only to the staff and to Hufflepuffs. They suspect that the Ravenclaws have figured out that there is WiFi at Hogwarts and have been desperately trying to get the password while being less subtle than they think they are. Ravenclaws want to introduce their purebloods to stuff like Black Butler and the Lord of the Rings (Because how can you call yourself a Ravenclaw if you haven't read Black Butler or watched Lord of the Rings).**

**Q: MoonWatersLight: I completely understand the school thing, but please, don't stop! I love the story! I will vote for sure! Other than that, update when you can! :)**

**A: Thank you, dear. Updates will become few and far between, I fear, which makes me sad because I hate it when stories I follow do this but I love it when they come back. Thank you for voting, much appreciated. **

**School will end up proving to be my downfall, I'm sure. Any bets on when I'll put it on hiatus? Ten bucks says before the Holiday season. Not real money, because I don't have ten dollars.**

**So, yeah. Check out my askblog on dA. Send me OCs again, please. I do actually use them. Send in predictions on when hiatus will start, because it will -thee-well, my lovelies.**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


	9. You Guys Fucked Up

"_**On that note, I will now give you a choice. Would you rather I a) give you unfinished chapters on time, or b) give you finished chapters late? The choice is yours, my precious, poll is up on my profile and if it doesn't get more than five votes, then I will simply assume that you want me to ****STOP WRITING ALL TOGETHER** **so you have been warned. Poll will close on the fourteenth of September.**_

**_If you skipped over this A/N, your loss and you risk losing this story completely. If this story is put on hiatus, then two weeks after the hiatus begins, I will check to see how many of you reviewed to say that I need to continue or something along those lines. 7+ vote yes, then I might continue it. I'll probably be writing as I wait for a response anyways._"**

**-Pwnie3, Wise, Chapter 7**

**I said this a while back. I said that if I got 5+ votes on that poll, then I would continue writing. If I got 4-, I would put the story on a two-week hiatus. **

**I got 4 votes. Hate to break it to you, but that's just shy of the amount I set. In two weeks, I will check reviews to see what you have to say on this. 7+ comments say to keep writing, I'll do just that. 6-, I'll just sit here and wait until I get 7 or more. **

**I'll keep writing while I wait for a response.**

**FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT VOTED OR COMMENTED**

**You are taking this story away from those who think it's a good story. Just because you don't think it's the best out there, don't take it away from the people who want to keep reading.**

**For those of you who do comment, here's what you need to do. Just put in the comments as the first word of your comment (On it's own line) 'Yes' or 'No'. Feel free to leave other notes, but I am going to trust you to only vote once. Please, keep this nice and fair and don't vote fifty million times.**

**COMMENT REPLIES**

**Q: Anomaly(Guest): Okay. Reading that headcanon in its entirety makes it seem AWESOME. Hufflepuffs are interesting, though, and very little is known to them. So there's lots of room for headcanons. Hufflepuffs strike me as the type that could completely TAKE OVER THE SCHOOL and then years later some kid would pipe up "why are they in charge?" Everybody would deny it, think about it, then realize HOLY CRAP THE HUFFLEPUFFS TOOK OVER but they did it so discretely and silently and yeah. But it's good to know that you'll be updating less often. Bye! :)**

**A: Hufflepuffs are like the Canada of Hogwarts. Deep down, people know that they exist, but they almost never think about them. Like, one day Canada will rule the world by slowly sending armies of meese to take over other countries, starting with America. Once America becomes slave to Canada, the rest of the world is screwed. (PS, I read the other comment but accidentally uploaded the wrong thing. This is the real thing, and I shall reply to your other comment later)**

**Q: MoonWatersLight: Darn, but school is demanding, and I completely understand! Keep up the good work!**

**A: Thank you, for being so understanding.**

**For those of you who are faithful and amazing people, I have for you roughly 1,000 words of the next chapter.**

* * *

The Room of Requirement was empty, which was just what Nico wanted. There was a perfectly good reason that he wasn't in the Ravenclaw common room for the Claiming.

He had never really been big on the Claiming, seeing as then, all the little second-years wanted to know who Nico's godly parent was and then either they idolized him for it or they were suddenly scared of the now-menacing fourth-year boy. It had gone on like that since Nico was claimed in his own second year. before he was claimed, he'd had friends in ever house, and in every year. Everyone wanted to be friends with the silver-tongued and charismatic Ravenclaw. When he was claimed, his circle of friends shrank exponentially, and suddenly there were few who still counted themselves as his friends. Over the next two years, he found himself once again surrounded by people, but now only those who wished for all the riches in the earth, or to secure themselves a place in the Elysian Fields. Nico turned them all away, no longer used to all the company.

That had changed when he met Harry. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, the son of Proserpina. Harry hadn't been afraid of his older half-brother, in fact he was more understanding of the son of Pluto than most adults were. Harry understood being turned away from everyone because of some reason or another, and then being thrust back into popularity for something you had no control over.

Harry brought with him others, those who would also help to change Nico for the better. Seamus and Dean, who made Nico laugh on the inside with their unresolved sexual tension. Victoria, who reminded Nico so much of her older sister it was scary and made him glad that he didn't have to put up with a hyper Bellatrix Cooper. Terry and Tony, who Nico couldn't tell if they were just friends or if they wanted to bang. Neville, who needed to get some self-confidence but still made a loyal friends of himself. Draco, who was Nico's current friend-in-high-place through his father's position, seeing as Nico wasn't about to claim his seat on the Wizengamot quite yet. Hermione, who managed to made Nico's face hot simply at the thought of her face.

All these people, not counting those who had stayed either on his side or neutral when he had been claimed, were the only people that Nico cared about at this point in life. The faraway people in Camp Jupiter and in Camp Half-Blood were nothing to him on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Nico slashed at another dummy. Over the summer, he had allowed himself to grow lax in his training, which left him with a lot of catching up to do during the school year. He had been busy trying to help his father convince Proserpina to come and stay in the Underworld for a few weeks that summer, which she was slightly reluctant to do. It had only been when Pluto and Nico revealed that Harry was going to come and stay in the last week of summer that she agreed. While Nico hadn't been ecstatic about Proserpina staying while Nico was there, too, he could at least put up with her as long as he only ever had to see her at meals. Nico still had his duties to attend to in the Underworld as the son of Pluto and as the king of ghosts, so more than once he left the Boy-Who-Lived under the watchful eye of Proserpina, whereupon Nico would find himself hurrying away from a discussion about planting seasons for jeweled flowers. Often, these talks would carry on throughout lunch and dinner, sometimes even the pair picking the conversation up from the night before at breakfast as if they had never stopped speaking at all. Nico and Pluto had perfected a nonverbal way of speaking to each other that didn't take nearly as long to get out, seeing as the longest thing said in their silent conversations was 'Oh gods, when will those two shut up about flowers'.

In any case, the dummy Nico was slashing at slashed right back, just as he had charmed it to do. Over the course of his years at Hogwarts, Nico had found himself editing spells to work more to his preferences, such as a way to make a dummy copy the fighting style of whatever took the caster's fancy. The dummy that Nico was up against had been spelled to fight like a renegade demigod, which had become increasingly more common over the past few years.

Rogue, or renegade, demigods were demigods who had found out about the other camp and decided to take off and fight in a way that reflected both fighting styles- the most successful combinations of Greek and Roman battle merged into one style known as 'renegade'. Every demigod at Hogwarts, Nico included, would be counted as a renegade demigod if anyone found out about the school knowing of both, and if it was a Roman, they would all be punished severely for withholding the information about a potential enemy. It was exactly for this reason that any and all demigods were sworn to secrecy as soon as they were recognised as demigods. They had to swear both on the River Styx and they had to make an Unbreakable Vow never to speak of Hogwarts or any happenings on the grounds when not authorized to do so. Currently, the only person in Hogwarts authorized to give permission to speak about Hogwarts outside of Hogwarts was the Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. It had been decided years before that the person who was allowed to give permission was required to be a demigod or second-generation legacy. Their godly blood had to be prominent, and Minerva McGonagall was, contrary to popular belief, not a daughter of Athena or any form of the same goddess. Professor McGonagall was a daughter of Fides- the goddess of faithfulness. In all honesty, she was the best person for the job.

Nico hacked and slashed at his enemy in a Greek fashion before stabbing and jabbing in a very Roman way. Straw fell out of the cuts between the plates of its mismatched Roman and Greek armor, as a renegade demigod would. In one quick and direct strike, Nico lopped off the dummy's head, where it fell to the floor. Nico immediately turned around to block a strike from a second dummy which had sprouted out of the floor as soon as the first had lost its head.

* * *

**Don't forget to comment, please. I think that seven or more is a reasonable number of comments required.**

**Peace, Love, and Bacon,**

**Pwnie3**


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